Jaune's Secret
by RWBYBlackFlames
Summary: What if Jaune had a second secret? What if it was related to the first?
1. The Mistake

Hey guys, **RWBYBlackFlames** here and I'm glad to welcome you to chapter one of my new story, Jaune's Secret. So yeah. I hope you enjoy, Black Flames out!

=O=

 **Chapter 1**

 **The Mistake**

" _Blessed are those who see beautiful things in humble places where others see nothing"_

=O=

"So Jaune, did you study up on the assignment that Professor Midnight gave us?" asked Ruby as they walked to their next class. Jaune had seemed out of it yesterday and she was fairly concerned.

"Wait, there was an assignment yesterday?" said Jaune shocked. Something that Ruby didn't know was that there was a reason he wasn't fully awake that day. Pyrrha's training had started to get more intense, with her starting to use her semblance more and more, and unfortunately the previous night, she may have _accidentally_ sent him flying off the rooftop. Fortunately, a few trees broke his fall but in the midst, he was stuck for a while until help came. He would've cut himself loose, but his sword fell onto the ground, unlike him. Pyrrha was stammering apologies left and right about it, but he eventually convinced Pyrrha not to worry about it. Unfortunately, it took a good chunk of his night to get down, since the doors to the school were locked and by the time he got to his bed, it was already morning and he had to face the day with no rest and a tired body.

"Yeah, she told us to research up a certain dust crystal, I can't remember the name but she said that we would be talking about it in class." said Ruby, cheerful as always.

"I'm sure it's nothing important." said Jaune as they entered the class. Everyone else had already entered, except Weiss and the Professor. After a few minutes, surprisingly Professor Goodwitch entered the room. Unfortunately, for Jaune, it was very important.

"Children, be quiet. Now that I have your attention, I have some information for you regarding your teacher, Mrs. Midnight. Unfortunately, she was working hard last night trying to find new research materials and blew up from a misplaced dust crystal. She'll be alright and will be reteaching in a week or two. Do we have any questions?" asked Professor Goodwitch.

"Yes, why did she need new materials?" asked a student in the back.

"It seems she was working on them when, and I quote, 'A blonde man screaming like a girl fell from the sky and hit a tree and got stuck.' During the confusion, the dust crystal sample she was using disappeared. She was at a dust shop last night when a faulty seal let fire dust out. Unfortunately, she has a small cold and one sneeze was all it took to blow up the place." said Goodwitch. Ruby and Jaune shrank back in their seats, with embarrassment fresh on their mind.

"Fortunately for you, we managed to get a new sample, curtsey of Ms. Schnee." said Professor Goodwitch as Weiss walked in, with a briefcase. She gave it to Professor Goodwitch and then returned to her group, next the professor opened it, revealing dust crystals. In look, the seemed black, but if you looked at it, it seemed to suck in the light around, but not nearly enough to cause worry.

"This, my dear children is a A.D.C. or an Anti-Dust Crystal." Jaune paled as Goodwitch said that, getting sweaty.

"Do you mean AC/DC?" asked a student in the back, earning some laughs.

"I mean detention. My room after school, you can clean up the arena." retorted Goodwitch.

"Worth it." said the student as class continued.

"Now, we were originally just going to show it to the class..." said Goodwitch, causing Jaune to sigh.

"But thanks to Ms. Schnee, we can have a live demonstration." said Goodwitch, destroying any hope Jaune had. Pyrrha, who was seated next to Jaune noticed his unease and tried to talk to him.

"Jaune, what's the matter?" asked Pyrrha with concern in her tone.

"N-n-nothing P-Pyrrha, I'm f-fine!" said Jaune, with his words the exact opposite of what he looked like. It looked like he was facing down an Ursa Major, while being tied up, with no weapons and fresh out of aura. He looked like a man on death row, but Pyrrha wasn't the type of person to pry.

"Alright class, we will now be using the A.D.C. Now, let's see if this is legitimate. This is a Fire-Type Dust Crystal, and it works perfectly fine." The blonde professor pulled out a red dust crystal and promptly applied a minor amount of aura, causing a small fire to come from it. She exterminated the flame, before pulling up a A.D.C.

"Now that we now it works, let's try to use the A.D.C." said the professor. At this point, Jaune started to move, before realizing something. Nora was sleeping on his shoulder. Normally, one would try to shake her off, but Jaune has seen what happens when you try that first hand. He still has nightmares about it… So effectively, Nora has trapped him.

"Oh!" Goodwitch applied the aura, but it seemed she poured to much and the classroom was engulfed by the A.D.C.'s effect. The air had a more bland taste, and the fire crystal looked like it was completely shut down, nothing more than a pretty rock now.

"My apologies students, it seems that the A.D.C. crystal is more sensitive to aura then I would've thought. If anyone had dust on them for whatever reason, it is now effectively negated, my apologies. Oh, it seems like we're out of time, remember to study about the A.D.C. crystal and it's uses on the battlefield. There will be a test about it soon." said Goodwitch as the bell rang. Shockingly, Jaune was the first one out, with a rather sick look on his face. Normally he would wait and talk with his friends as they went to the next period, lunch, but this time it seemed like something was off. Hopefully he'd talk about it during lunch.

=O=

The crew went to lunch and noticed that Jaune was missing. Fortunately, Midnight's class was the last one today as Combat was canceled today after a rather nasty explosion involving Nora and Yang's hair. Not even Professor's Goodwitch could fix the arena. Either way, Jaune was absent and this left a very confused group.

"So, does anyone know where Jaune is?" asked Ruby curiously.

"I don't know, he seemed rather pale when he was leaving Dust Class, perhaps he's at the nurses." said Blake as she read her book.

"Maybe he went straight to our room" said Pyrrha.

"We're not going to figure out where he is from just talking. I say we go find him, tie him up, and bring him here! That's what friends do!" said Nora with confidence.

"Nora. That's kidnapping and I'm not sure he would appreciate it." said Ren, trying to shake the idea from Nora's head.

"Nonsense, if there's one thing that strengthens the bonds between friends, it's a good old kidnapping. Just like how I met you. It's pretty funny how you-" said Nora.

"NORA!" said Ren, cutting her story off and giving the group a good laugh.

"Alright guys, it's time to activate plan 'Find Jaune and figure out why he's not here and help our friendships'!" said Ruby with enthusiasm.

"You really have a way with plan names…" noted Yang as Ruby pulled out a binder, which on close inspection can be identified as Weiss's. On it was a map of Beacon with Jaune's possible locations.

"Alright, Team Alpha, me and Weiss-" said Ruby before she was cut off.

"Weiss and I" corrected Weiss, earning her weird looks from her friends.

"What? If we're doing a plan, we should at least do it right." said Weiss, before they continued.

"Anyways, Team Alpha, Weiss and I will go and check the infirmary to see if he's there. Team Beta, Blake and Yang will check to see if he's in the library-" said Ruby before she was cut off once again.

"Why would he be in the library?" asked Pyrrha.

"He sometimes goes to the library to study after school. He said he didn't want to bother y- I should not have said that. SORRY JAUNE!" said Ruby as she accidentally revealed Jaune's secret. Sometimes the two leaders would head after class to the library, to study for upcoming tests and such. They didn't want to reveal it to their respective partners and burden them so it was their little secret.

"Anyways, Nora and Ren will go check Goodwitch's classroom to see if he got confused and went there." said Ruby.

"Woohoo! We're gonna find ya Jauney!" said Nora with enthusiasm before Ruby quickly went to her side and started whispering to her.

"Nora, you know how Ren can be, make sure he doesn't blow something up or get sidetracked." whispered Ruby.

"Okay! I'll keep an eye on him!" replied Nora with enthusiasm, with Ren looking rather annoyed at the comment.

"And Pyrrha, you go check the dorms. He might've gone back there to go take a nap." said Ruby.

"He seemed tired today, so the dorm sounds like the ideal place for him to be if somethings wrong." said Pyrrha.

"Okay, Team RWBYNPR, move out!" said Ruby as the group split off and went to their respective locations. As the groups wandered off, Weiss started to talk to Ruby.

"Why did you tell that to Nora?" asked Weiss with curiosity.

"I heard that telling someone who's likely to get sidetracked to keep an eye on someone responsible, the two will likely stay on task, since the person who's less likely to get sidetracked will be so focused on making sure the responsible person doesn't mess up, they're much more likely to get the mission done." said Ruby.

"Where did you find this out?" asked Weiss.

"I read it in a book." said Ruby as the duo walked to the infirmary.

=O=

As Pyrrha walked into the team dormitory, she initially saw nothing, but as she started to leave she heard talking from the bathroom. The door was cracked slightly, and Pyrrha started to listen. To her surprise, Jaune was the one who was talking, and apparently on a scroll.

"So father, what do you think?" asked Jaune nervously. Pyrrha could only hear bits and pieces of the reply, since she was so far away.

"…, you got lucky. Since the crystal seems to be working, you're …, but what's the status of it right …" asked Jaune's father, to which Jaune sighed in relief.

"It's working, otherwise we'd be in trouble. However, it looks like it's dimming more and more by the second." said Jaune.

"… That's not …, you're gonna want to find someone who's an expert with … and get their opinion. Unfortunately, all the spare crystals are …, so you're out of luck here. I'm guessing since you … at ground zero, the effect will be delayed, but I'm sure the … will be out in a weeks time. Hopefully they can give you … about it. Just make sure no one finds out unless it's inevitable and make sure to keep me updated." said the father.

"Okay, thanks father. Goodbye." said Jaune as he ended the call and started to head towards the door, to which Pyrrha, in surprise, grabbed a spare notebook ran to the door of the dorm.

"Oh hey Pyrrha, how's it going?" asked Jaune as he saw Pyrrha.

"Oh, I was just getting a notebook for class. We were wondering where you were Jaune, what happened? You seemed rather pale." asked Pyrrha. She would've asked about Jaune's call, but it was his secret to keep.

"Oh, it must've been something I ate during breakfast. I knew the breakfast burrito was a bad idea." said Jaune, to which Pyrrha smiled. She couldn't make him tell her his secret… well she could but only bad things would happen after that. He would tell her in time, like his last secret. Hopefully.

"So Jaune, Ruby says you go to the library after school to study. And you don't ask me to help as to 'not burden' me?" said Pyrrha with a scary smile on her lips, with her face showing happiness while her aura revealed her agitation.

"RUBY WHY?!"

=O=

Hey guys, **RWBYBlackFlames** here and that was chapter 1. So yeah. I hope you enjoyed. Some minor explaining now.

Professor Ella Midnight: Cinderella. Would've used Cinder, except we already have a smoking hot girl with that name. Damn it.


	2. The Chance

Hey guys, **RWBYBlackFlames** here and I'm glad to present chapter two of Jaune's Secret. I hope you enjoy and your feedback is appreciated. Peace!

=O=

 **Chapter 2**

 **The Chance**

" _There's a fine line between not listening and not caring. I like to think that I walk that line every day of my life." ~Leonard L. Church_

=O=

"Okay Pyrrha, I'll study with you after school! I'm sorry!" said Jaune as the two walked out of the dorm room and back towards the cafeteria. As Pyrrha messaged the rest of the group to call off the search, she remembered how yet again Jaune had a secret to keep, and she wasn't trusted with it. It brought a frown to her face, to which her partner noticed.

"Pyrrha, are you alright? You seem upset." said Jaune as the two walked.

"It's nothing, don't worry about it Jaune." replied Pyrrha as they neared the cafeteria doors. Finally, they reached it and entered, to see that the rest of the group had already reconvened there. As they reached the group, Jaune was immediately questioned.

"Jaune, what happened?" asked Ruby with a concerned look on her face.

"Yeah Vomit-boy, did you live up to your name sake?" questioned Yang, to which it was responded with a firm punch to the shoulder from her sister.

"Uh..." Jaune's face had a blank stare as he searched for an answer, which fortunately his male comrade managed to answer.

"The chicken last night tasted rather bad and I remember you had an extra helping. Maybe that was what caused you to look so sick." said Ren, which Jaune smiled at.

"Yeah, I knew that something was off about that chicken. Heh heh..." said Jaune as he gave a sheepish grin, to which most of the group accepted. While the group then began to talk about random things concerning school and their plans, Pyrrha simply wondered what was up. It all started when they went to their dust class today… She pondered on what it could be for what seemed to be a few moments until someone tapped her on the shoulder.

"So Pyrrha, since Professor Goodwitch's class is canceled today, are you ready to hit the library with me and Ruby?" questioned Jaune as she saw that the only ones left at the table were Ruby and Jaune.

"Of course, let's go!" said Pyrrha, putting the question at the back of her mind.

=O=

As the study session ended and the shattered moon rose from the horizon, a certain blonde haired person left their dorm room. Their destination? Team RWBY's dorm. It was a dangerous time to be out as the curfew for Beacon was at 10 o'clock and it was half past 12 and Professor Goodwitch was strict. A few knocks on the door, and a certain maroon haired team leader opened the door.

"Uh… Jaune? What's up?" asked Ruby as she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes.

"I need to speak with Weiss, can you send her out?" asked Jaune hesitantly.

"Sure… Uh Wei-" Ruby was cut off as someone put their hand over Ruby's mouth. They moved forward and revealed themselves to be Weiss.

"Honestly, you may be fast but you are not stealthy in the slightest. Keep it down, I don't want Yang to wake up. If she wakes up, no-one sleeps… Now, what do you want Jaune?" asked Weiss in a whisper.

"I can't say it here, can you follow me?" replied Jaune, to which Weiss reluctantly agreed. After a minute, the two reached the Beacon roof, where Jaune and Pyrrha trained.

"This better not be another attempt to win me over…" muttered Weiss.

"It's not, I wouldn't have helped Nep- Oops..." said Jaune as he realized what he had let slip.

"Jaune, I know the truth about that. Neptune really isn't good at keeping secrets. Thanks for that, by the way." said Weiss graciously.

"Okay, good. This isn't another attempt to win you over but I need your help." said Jaune.

"Alright. What's the problem?" asked Weiss.

"Do you remember the Anti Dust Crystal?" asked Jaune.

"Of course, we had a presentation about it today." replied Weiss.

"Well, I had a dust crystal around my neck during that time. I need to know how long it will last." said Jaune.

"… Hard to say. Different Dust Crystals react differently to each other so I can't say until I've gotten a good view. Do you have it?" asked Weiss.

"Of course, here it is." Jaune then took off a necklace, which had been under his shirt, just out of view and handed it over to Weiss. The necklace had a golden chain, but what was important was what was on the pendant. On the pendant was a dust crystal, but it was no ordinary dust crystal. It appeared to be dimmed, but it still held a golden glow. It appeared to be not only engraved with the Arc family symbol, but it also appeared to be a special golden dust crystal. It wasn't the garden variety fire or ice crystal for sure.

"Jaune, is this a-" asked Weiss in awe before she was cut off.

"Yes, I know what it is. That's not important. I need to know how long it's gonna last before it runs out of power?" asked Jaune quickly.

"I'd say it'd last… maybe until Monday. That's if you're lucky though. Though I do have a question for you. If that dust crystal is what I think it is, why of all people are you using it?" asked Weiss curiously.

"We all have our own curses Weiss. Thanks though. I appreciate it." said Jaune as he put on the necklace.

"It's no problem Jaune. It's the least I could've done after you helped Neptune." said Weiss as she started to leave.

"Oh, and Weiss. If you could keep this between us, I'd appreciate it." said Jaune.

"Of course. Good night Jaune." said Weiss as the two left.

=O=

The next day progressed rather quickly with a noticeable improvement on Jaune's attitude. Finally, the group reached Professor Goodwitch's class, which had surprisingly been repaired overnight.

"Alright. Now that the arena is in a sufficient state, we can resume our daily matches. Now… Our matches for today are… Ciel of Team CYMK vs Giada of Team GEMM, Ruby of Team RWBY vs Pyrrha of Team JNPR and finally Jaune of Team JNPR vs Cardin of Team CRDL. If we still have time, we may have more matches. Now, let's begin." said Professor Goodwitch. The first match was a draw and ended fairly quickly. The second one came with Pyrrha managing to top Ruby due to an accident involving Ruby missing Pyrrha barely and hitting the wall. Finally, it became time for Jaune's match to begin. With a few words of good luck, Jaune made his way to the arena and Jaune saw his opponent, Cardin.

"Jaune, thanks for helping me back at the falls but I hope you aren't expecting me to take it easy on you. This isn't going to be any different from our last fight. Prepare to lose." said Cardin cockily as he pulled out his mace.

"Of course Cardin, I wouldn't want you taking it easy on me but I'm not gonna be the loser here." said Jaune as he pulled out sword and shield. As the buzzer went off, Cardin rushed forward and threw a hit against him. Jaune tried to block it, but it still sent him back a few feet and took a portion of his aura with it.

 _Okay… Can't block that. I'm gonna need to dodge that._ thought Jaune as he recovered from the hit. Cardin wasn't gonna stand by while Jaune recovered from that hit and he tried to rush him again to end the game quickly, which fortunately Jaune dodged. He countered with a sword hit to Cardin's side, which took out a reasonable sized chunk out of Cardin's aura.

"At least you're hitting me this time Arc!" said Cardin as he went for an overhead crushing swing, which Jaune barely managed to avoid, but it destroyed the arena floor, sending up chunks of earth flying. As Cardin removed his mace from the ground, Jaune came with a strong slice from his sword, hitting Cardin's back. Right now, Jaune's aura was at a reasonable 80% while Cardin was at 60% from aura enhanced hits as well as from Jaune's occasional hits. Jaune took note of this as he dodged yet another hit.

"You can't run away from me forever Arc! Take your beating like a man!" said Cardin as he swung yet again, clipping Jaune's shield which then exploded. Cardin smiled as his red dust crystal activated from the hit. Last time it wasn't necessary since the battle was over so fast, but if Jaune was playing the dodging game, he'd have to pull out the stops. As Jaune landed, clearly having not taken that hit well, Cardin smiled. That one hit alone put Cardin in the lead. Just one more and this match would be set.

"I'm not going down without a fight Cardin!" said Jaune as he rushed forward, using the flying debris as cover as he got closer. However, Jaune's fate was sealed as the very thing he used as cover betrayed him as he tripped on debris falling right into a hit from Cardin, getting hit square in the chest. As the dust crystal did it's damage, everyone gasped as Jaune went flying.

"… Jaune?" said Cardin in concern as he saw the boy fly. As the smoke cleared, they saw the blonde knight on the other side of the arena, with his chestplate almost completely crushed as well as his clothing ripped in several pieces. The important item of notice? The blood coming from an arm that had clearly seen better days. As the class stood in awe, Jaune started to get up, staggering as he did with his aura clearly in the red.

"No. No! No! NO!" said Jaune as he pulled out from under his battered chestplate a destroyed necklace with what appeared to be a golden dust crystal in pieces. As he tried to hold it together, Jaune noticed that everyone was watching him. Suddenly, he used the small remainder of his aura to create a flashbang, blinding anyone and everyone for about ten seconds. By the time they could see again, Jaune was gone and all that was left was the pendant and some residue blood.

"What just happened?"

=O=

Hey guys, **RWBYBlackFlames** here and I'm glad to show you the finished result of chapter 2. I hoped you enjoyed and I love your feedback. Make sure to leave a review to show me how you feel as well as thoughts and suggestions and I will see you soon. Black Flames out!


	3. The Fate

Hey guys, **RWBYBlackFlames** here and I'm glad to welcome you to Chapter Three. I loved the feedback and guesses I got on the last chapter and I hope you give me more. Note: The beans will likely be spilled next chapter so I'd put in my guess, cause it's now or never. Now, that's all for now. I hope you enjoy! Black Flames out!

=O=

 **Chapter Three**

 **The Fate**

" _Nervous people unconsciously avoid any action that involves opening up." ~Anonymous_

=O=

"…Class is dismissed. If any of you see Mr. Arc, make sure to send him to the infirmary." said the Professor as she picked up her scroll, feverishly dialing the number to the infirmary to inform them of the predicament. While she did that, the class dispersed, with a few staying behind in shock. Among those were Cardin, Team RWBY, and the remainder of Team JNPR. After a moment, Cardin broke the silence.

"So… Let me know if you guys see Jaune. I'll need to speak with him." said Cardin to the group as they left the classroom in a rush. As they walked, following the small trail of blood left behind by Jaune's broken appendage, the group talked to themselves about what had just happened.

"Yang… Do you think Jaune is gonna be alright?" asked Ruby as the group headed towards the infirmary.

"You know Jaune, he can take a beating and then some. He'll be fine. Remember that one time he fell off the cliff? He was fine by the next morning." said Yang as she reassured her sister. She would know that he'd be fine. After all, he's taken a beating from her and walked out fine. Not many can boast the same. Not most can even say they've gone out on their own two legs.

After another minute of following the blood trail, it surprisingly ended, but it seemed to have been leading towards the infirmary.

"Weiss, what do you think? Do you think Jaune's gonna be alright?" asked Ruby, looking over to her partner. Surprisingly, she wasn't there. As the group noticed her absence, they heard running from behind them and turned to see Weiss running to the group. After a moment, she was with the group again.

"Weiss, what took you so long?" asked Yang.

"This." Weiss then put her hands in her pocket, waiting a moment before pulling out what appeared to be a part of a destroyed dust crystal. The mentioned dust crystal was golden in color and appeared to have an inscription on it, though it was now unreadable as it was destroyed.

"What's that?" asked Ruby in confusion.

"This is a T.D.C. or a Transformation Dust Crystal." said Weiss, showing it to the group.

"What does it do?" asked Yang.

"Well, to be simple, it changes your appearance. It can change anything from a hair to your whole appearance, as long as you configure it correctly." said Weiss.

"How can you configure a dust crystal?" asked Ruby with curiosity.

"Well, most dust crystals and sometimes dust in it's natural form can configured with certain special tools, even a fire crystal can be configured to do a certain command once it has aura, such as giving a weapon a flame aura. In this instance, a transformation crystal can edit exactly what you look like." said Weiss.

"Really? What would Jaune need it for? Who would he need to hide as?" asked Ruby with curiosity.

"Maybe he wants to hide as one of the staff or something? Maybe even hide as Neptune. It would put you two together..." pondered Yang.

"That's not what I'm thinking Yang. If my theory is correct, then you'll see someone you know very well in a moment." said Weiss as she held the crystal close to her body. After a moment, both she and it began to glow. Suddenly, the group was blinded by a small burst of light, and suddenly the group was in shock.

"Hey guys, I'm Jaune Arc. I'm the leader of Team JNPR!" said a voice. That wasn't the confusing part. What was confusing was the fact that the one speaking it was Jaune, but in Weiss's dress. The dress itself had also changed slightly to accommodate for the new owner.

"Jaune?" asked Pyrrha in shock.

"Nope, Weiss Schnee. Now that we now that the transformation crystal is set to be Jaune Arc, we have to ask a very important question. Why is it set to turn Jaune into himself?" said Weiss in Jaune's voice. After a moment, she dropped the act and let the crystal run out of juice, turning back into her old self.

"Maybe he was holding it for someone else?" said Blake.

"Unlikely. Unless he's pulling off an extreme prank, I doubt that he's going this far for it. Even then, we need to know something else. Why would he run away from the arena in the middle of a match, when injured no less?" said Weiss.

"Do you have the answer Weissy?" asked Nora.

"Indeed I do. This is only a hypothesis, but I believe that we have been tricked. Can any one of you tell me that you've heard of 'Jaune Arc' prior to Beacon, or perhaps seen him?" asked Weiss as the group continued to walk.

"I remember hearing my father talk about a male heir to the Arc family. It was when I was young, maybe seven. He had said that they had finally gotten an heir for the old family." said Pyrrha.

"Interesting. We now know that Jaune Arc is likely the heir to the clan as for what we know, he's the only male offspring of the family. However, we must ask yet another question. Has anyone ever seen Jaune Arc at all before Beacon?" asked Weiss. No one spoke up, and Weiss continued.

"Let me tell you a small story. In the beginning of the year, I had my doubts about Jaune Arc, so I decided to look him up in the library. Surprisingly, they have records on all the Arc family members. I read somewhere that they even helped create Beacon at one point. So when I searched up 'Jaune Arc', I found his great great grandfather, Jaune Arc the first. However, for all the information in the database, there was only one instance of our Jaune Arc. It was just a small note saying he was a student of Beacon." said Weiss.

"Where are you going with this?" asked Ruby.

"I've had my doubts about Jaune but it seems I may have been slightly correct. I don't fully believe that the leader of Team JNPR is Jaune Arc, rather I believe that someone has been masquerading under his name." said Weiss.

"What? How can you be sure?" asked Ruby.

"I can't. For all I know, this may have been a giant coincidence. It's not unheard of to find a family heir to stay under the radar. Even I had to be hidden for a small time as a result of being the only heir at the time of the Schnee Dust Company. However, I can say one thing for certain. I don't believe that the Jaune Arc we saw this morning and the Jaune Arc we saw at initiation are the same. For all we know, Jaune may have been killed off somewhere in Vale, and replaced. It would guarantee the person a free education at Beacon and for as long as they could keep up the ruse, no one would suspect a thing." said Weiss.

"What do you think we should do then?" asked Yang.

"For now, I think we should stay cautious of Jaune. Don't meet with him one on one until we can sort this out. If he's at the infirmary, we can ask him there. If not, then there may be some truth to what I have said." said Weiss. As she talked, Pyrrha felt her scroll vibrate. She pulled it out and saw that there was a single message. From Jaune.

[MEET ME AT THE ROOFTOP. COME ALONE.] That was all that was on it. Pyrrha had her doubts about what Weiss said, but there may have been some truth. Perhaps this may have been a trap. But in her heart, she still trusted Jaune. While the group continued to theorize on what may have been the case, Pyrrha silently took a turn and started to head towards the rooftop.

=O=

"Hey Pyrrha, I didn't think you would come." said Jaune as Pyrrha stepped onto the rooftop.

"I couldn't just leave my partner alone. Especially when he's injured." said Pyrrha. She took a good look at Jaune and it told her all she needed to know. His left arm was still bleeding and it seemed that there was a makeshift bandage over it, courtesy of a handkerchief. However it seemed that the bones themselves were starting to be healed. In his other hand, he was holding a chunk of his destroyed crystal, which was glowing but seemed to be fading. After a moment, Jaune realized what she was looking at and began to explain.

"Oh! Yeah… It's more important if I keep the aura in this crystal rather than healing my arm..." said Jaune as he gave a sheepish grin.

"…If you say so, but please heal that soon. It could cripple your career as a huntsman if it goes unhealed for too long." said Pyrrha, which seemed to shock Jaune. After a moment of silence, Jaune started to speak.

"May I ask you a question?" asked Jaune.

"Of course Jaune." replied Pyrrha.

"Has Weiss already started to question why I've disappeared?" asked Jaune.

"She's done more than that. She's even started to speculate that you aren't even Jaune Arc." said Pyrrha. She felt safe as she said this, after all. Even though Weiss's theory had solid reasoning, Pyrrha felt that this was still the same Jaune she knew despite what she's been told, Arc or not.

"I suppose you want to know the truth about me then." Jaune replied.

"I won't force it out of you Jaune. That's cause I trust you." said Pyrrha. Deep down, she knew that even if Jaune wasn't who he said he was, he was her friend.

"No, I've lied enough. I suppose it's time for the truth… Sit down cause it's going to be a long story." said Jaune as he unraveled his greatest lie.

=O=

"And that's it. That is the story of 'Jaune Arc'. Now, I think it's time I've told the others. Pyrrha, I won't force you to do anything, but can I count on you for support when the time comes?" asked Jaune.

"Of course, but should we tell them here?" asked Pyrrha.

"No, let's head back to the dorm room. It'll be easier there. After all, I won't have to worry about anyone overhearing it." said Jaune as he walked towards the exit with Pyrrha.

"Jaune. Can you do me a favor?" asked Pyrrha.

"Sure Pyrrha, what is it?" asked Jaune.

"Can you please heal your arm now?" asked Pyrrha. It had been bleeding during this conversation and Pyrrha was starting to get worried.

"Oh yeah, sorry. One second." Jaune stopped and starting to glow slightly, after a moment, Jaune had finished healing his wounds with the remainder of the aura that wasn't being used by the crystal. It still shocked Pyrrha how he could easily heal wounds like nothing.

"Hopefully they'll understand..." said Jaune as they left the rooftop. Unfortunately for him, Pyrrha wasn't the only one to have heard his secret. Rather, a certain team leader who had heard one of Jaune's secrets in the past had yet again repeated the past. It was going to be an interesting week, that was for sure.

=O=

Hey guys **RWBYBlackFlames** here and I'm glad to present the Chapter 3 of this beautiful story. Sorry for bringing it to you so late, but it can't be helped. Anyways, last chance to guess Jaune?'s secret. So yeah. Do it now or forever hold your peace. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed and small note. Gonna update Dark Knight next. I hope you enjoyed, Black Flames out!


	4. The Truth

Hey guys **RWBYBlackFlames** here and I'm glad to welcome you to Chapter 4 of Jaune's Secret. Sorry for the wait, had a small vacation and I unfortunately didn't have the supplies to write the chapter. Hopefully you'll like it! Talk to you soon, Black Flames out!

=O=

 **Chapter 4**

 **The Truth**

" _Happiness is like glass. It may be all around you, yet be invisible. But if you change your angle of viewing a little, then it will reflect light more beautifully than any other object around you."_

 _~ Suzaku Kururugi_

=O=

"… So if Jaune isn't here, then where do you think he could be?" wondered Yang as the group exited the infirmary. It really didn't surprise Ruby that Jaune wasn't at the infirmary. He wasn't the type of person to accept help so easily. Weiss didn't seem surprised either, but for different reasons.

"Pyrrha, where do you think Jaune could be?" asked Ruby. The group turned to look at Pyrrha… only to discover her absence.

"Where did Pyrrha go?" Instead of her friends answering, Ruby's scroll did it for her as it buzzed in their pockets. As Ruby pulled it out, she noticed that she had just received a message from one of the missing people in their eight man group, her fellow team leader Jaune.

[COME TO THE TEAM JNPR DORM ROOM. PYRRHA IS WITH ME. THE TRUTH WILL BE REVEALED]

"Isn't that ominous..." remarked Yang as Ruby relayed the message to them.

"So… to the dorm rooms?" said Ruby.

"At least this way we can get the truth out of him." said Weiss with a sigh as the group left to the dorm rooms.

=O=

"Jeez, why does the dorm rooms and the infirmary have to be on opposite sides of the school... My legs are killing me. I swear, if Jaune's gonna make us run back to the infirmary, I'm going to break his legs with Ember Celica." said Yang as they finally reached the Team JNPR dorm room. As they walked in, they were met with quite a shock.

Jaune was in there. Next to Pyrrha. Wearing the dress from the dance. Not only that, but he was also smiling as he spoke to Pyrrha with a smile. This wasn't exactly what they imagined when they walked in, but they weren't complaining. He made the dress look good.

"Uh Jaune… why are you wearing a dress?" asked Yang in disbelief.

"Oh, hi guys. I have my reasons for the dress. You'll see why in a few minutes. But first, do we have any questions we need answered?" asked Jaune as the group closed the door to the dorm behind them and sat down.

"So… Jaune, who are you exactly? I searched you up and there's no record of a Jaune Arc outside of Beacon, so I would like to know who we're dealing with." asked Weiss flatly. Jaune seemed taken aback for a moment, before regaining his composure.

"Huh… I thought I did a better job of covering my tracks… Good job Weiss, I underestimated you. Though before I answer your question, I have one of my own. Did the dust crystal cement your theories or did you find out before?" asked Jaune with a smile. It's almost like he was rewarding her for being suspicious.

"I had my suspicions, but that crystal was the last thing I needed to be sure of foul play." said Weiss with a small smile on her face.

"At least I have one more surprise for you then. Regarding my identity, I can say that I may not be 'Jaune Arc', but I am still an Arc." said Jaune.

"Really? I checked. All the Arcs are accounted for. I made sure to check just in case." responded Weiss.

"Jeez, I definitely underestimated you Weiss, but I think that this time, you'll be the one who's wrong. After all, we Arcs didn't reveal everything to the public, and _this_ only has about a minute of power until it shuts down. Then, the truth will be revealed to all." said Jaune, pulling out a rather large chunk of the transformation dust crystal. It was barely glowing, and it seemed to be fading. After a minute of waiting, the crystal seemed to be barely glowing at all.

"3… 2… 1-" Before Jaune could complete his countdown, the crystal shone brightly, blinding all in the room. When the light faded, Jaune was no longer there. In his place was something that no-one was expecting. Wearing the very same dress, and rather well as a matter of fact, was a blonde haired girl with long pigtailed hair and modest sized breasts, but other than that, she remained generally the same, even down to the eye color.

"… Huh!?" If it was possible for jaws to drop, they would've right then and there as the new women got up, spun around in her dress and stopped, before speaking.

"My name is Joan Arc. It's a pleasure to meet you." said Joan as she did a small curtsey to the bewildered group.

"… This can't be real… Weiss, pinch me, I must be- OW" said Yang in disbelief.

"Oh, but it is. I even have a photo." said Joan as she pulled out a photo. As the group took a look at said photo, they saw that on it was a couple with seven children of various ages, with notably all of them having different hair colors from each other, except two of them. They looked almost identical except for their clothing and gender. Aside from those two, it looked like a rainbow as it went from red to blue. The only color that was missing was purple.

"Hey Joan, is that you?" asked Ruby as she pointed as she pointed to the female of the pair.

"Yep. And on my side is my twin brother, Jaune." said Joan, which surprised the group again. They were left speechless for a moment as they looked at the two.

"Why did you take his place here?" asked Ruby.

"You're gonna want to sit down for this story. It's about 20 hours long and I only enjoy telling it in 5 minute intervals..."

=O=

Hey guys, **RWBYBlackFlames** here and I hope you liked it. I apologize for the small chapter greatly, but I wanted to get something out as soon as I got back to my equipment and I didn't have time to write anything longer. I'll have another chapter by the end of the week as a compromise. Thanks for reading and make sure to leave a review, I love those. Maybe even about if your theory was right or not. Anyways, thanks and Black Flames out!

On a side note, I'd like to point out that Jaune has seven sisters. There is no error in the text and in this fact. Also, I'd imagine that Jaune's sisters would look like a rainbow, going from red, to orange, to yellow, to green, to blue and finally to purple. Kinda fits considering their last name, and that rainbow is Arc en Ciel in French. Anyways, Black Flames out!


	5. The Tragedy

Hey guys, **RWBYBlackFlames** here and I'm glad to welcome you to chapter 5. Heads up, it's gonna be mostly flashback. Other than that, I don't have anything to say except I hope you enjoy and I'll talk to you soon. Black Flames out!

EDIT: Sorry for the bad newborn scene. I know little about it and Google was not helpful.

=O=

 **Chapter 5**

 **The Tragedy**

" _Try to imagine life without timekeeping. You probably can't. You know the month, the year, the day of the week. Yet all around you, timekeeping is ignored. Birds are not late. A dog does not check his watch. Deer do not fret over passing birthdays. Man alone measures time. Man alone chimes the hour. And because of this, man alone suffers a paralyzing fear that no other creature endures. A fear of time running out." ~ Anonymous_

=O=

"… Why do I have to wait outside?! I should have the right to be in there with my wife!" exclaimed one man, with his hair as golden as the sun. He was sitting in the waiting room while his wife was giving birth to their children as he waited impatiently. His question was answered by another man, but this one was with white hair and a cane.

"Now Soleil, you know fully well why you can't go in there after the trouble you caused in there the last time Luna was delivering. You're a bit… excitable, after all." said the other, sipping from a coffee cup as he spoke.

"… I hate it when you're right Ozpin… Wait a second, excitable? What do you mean by that?!" asked Soleil angrily. It seemed that a fight was going to break out until the door to the emergency room burst opened revealing a nurse.

"I have good news for you Sir Arc… Uh, did I come in on a bad time?" said the nurse as she looked upon the duo, with Soleil holding Ozpin in a headlock.

"Not at all! What is it?" asked Soleil, releasing Ozpin from his temporary prison, with Ozpin giving his friend a solid punch in the arm as a small revenge.

"It's about your wife, Ms. Luna Arc. She's given birth to a pair of twins, a boy and a girl." said the nurse. For a moment, Soleil had a blank face. However, that quickly changed as he shouted in bliss.

"I HAVE A SON! I HAVE TWINS! THANK THE HEAVENS FOR I HAVE BEEN BLESSED!" shouted Soleil in joy.

"Sir, please calm down! You'll disturb the babies!" said the nurse, trying to calm down the man. Normally, this would seem normal as a reaction unless you had been working in the hospital, as this was not the first time the Arc family head had such a reaction as he had been to the same hospital not once, not twice, but seven times before. Some of the doctors would swear that him showing up was bad for their health, and they were doctors.

"Oh yeah… heh heh… Let's go!" Soleil got up and started to follow the nurse with Ozpin following behind before the nurse stopped and turned around.

"Sir Arc, I could've sworn I've told you before but for the first day of birth, the doctors insist that only members of the immediately family are allowed in. I'm sorry Sir Ozpin, but I'll have to ask that you remain outside." said the nurse with exasperation.

"But of course. My apologies, I'll wait here Soleil." said Ozpin as he took his seat while the group left the room, leaving him behind. Soon, the new duo reached their destination as they reached the Arc matriarch's room. When he walked in, he saw his wife with two small babies that brought a warm feeling to his heart.

"… Twins…" said Luna with a smile. As she laid back with the twins, he noticed that they had small patches of yellow hair on both of the children.

"Luna, what do you we should name them?" asked Soleil.

"… Jaune for the little guy… in honor of your great-grandfather… and Joan… in honor of your great-great-grandmother…" said Luna with a tired expression.

"Are you sure?" questioned Soleil.

"Of course…" replied Luna. As the couple looked upon the new arrivals into the world, the room was filled with a fourth person, this one Ozpin, with another nurse not far behind.

"Sir! You can't enter! Please leave!" said the nurse as Ozpin tried to get past.

"Soleil! You need to get out here NOW!" said Ozpin as the door was closed on him.

"… I think I better go… I trust that you can handle this." said Soleil as he left the room. As he left the room, he was grabbed by Ozpin and the two went back to the waiting room.

"What is it Ozpin?" asked Soleil.

"There's been an attack…" said Ozpin.

"Don't beat around the bush Ozpin, what happened?" asked Soleil.

"Bianca's dead." said Ozpin. There was silence for a few moments before it was broken by the sunny haired man.

"… Excuse me?" asked Soleil.

"There was an attack at the Schnee Dust Company meeting. Bianca was there as a bodyguard to the brother of the current head of the country. He was the one who organized this event. Unfortunately, there was a bomb that somehow got through, and there was 15 casualties with dozens of injured. Among the dead, both Bianca and the Schnee." said Ozpin solemnly. As he said this, Soleil pulled out his scroll and frantically tried to call his eldest daughter. The scroll would never be answered.

=O=

"Joan! Joan! Hey Joan!" As someone called to her, Joan woke up from her dream. She rubbed her eyes and looked to the source of the voice to see it was her brother, Jaune.

"Good morning Jaune..." said Joan as she yawned and started to get out of her bed. She always wondered why that Jaune always seemed to be a morning bird whilst she always slept in.

"Guess what Joan? I finally got the OK from dad to start our training! He's said he got one of his close friends to train us!" said Jaune excitedly.

"Really?! That's great!" said Joan happily. Originally, Joan thought that they wouldn't get training since it would be too dangerous, but apparently her father decided that it was time.

"I wonder when we're gonna be allowed to go outside the mansion..." wondered Jaune. Unfortunately, as a result of what had happened nearly nine years ago to their sister Bianca as well as the attack on their second eldest sister Olivia, they weren't allowed outside the protection of the Arc mansion walls. Fortunately, there was always something to keep them busy in the walls.

"If we're getting training, I think we're get to go outside soon!" said Joan hopefully. After a few minutes, the twins headed to the kitchen for a quick snack. While they walked, they passed a few of the maids and butlers of the Arc mansion, all of which greeted them.

"So Jaune, what weapon are you gonna use out of the armory?" asked Joan with curiosity as they walked.

"I'm gonna use the Crocea Mors! I'm gonna be a knight of justice! How about you?" said Jaune excitedly, stabbing and slashing with an imaginary sword as he spoke, which caused Joan to giggle at her brothers antics.

"I'm gonna use the Gae Bolg, I always had my eye on that spear and I think it's time I've used it! I'm glad that the armory is very big, we have lots of choices!" said Joan happily. It was quite fortunate that they had the Arc Family Armory, which had acquired hundreds of weapons over time, due to the many previous Arcs who had added their weapons to the arsenal over time. Soon, the twins had gotten a quick snack and were off to the armory to retrieve their weapons. Before they reached the armory, a certain white haired man interrupted them.

"Good morning Jaune. Good morning Joan. What are you two doing up so early?" asked the white haired man.

"Oh hi Mr. Ozpin! We're going to the armory to grab some weapons to start our training." said Jaune happily.

"Excellent, I'm glad that you want to follow your fathers footsteps. Now follow me, for it's time to start." said Ozpin, starting to walk towards the training area.

"Why are we following you?" asked Joan.

"Because I'm going to be your trainer." said Ozpin. Soon, the group reached the training area and Ozpin began to speak again.

"We're not going to be starting with actual weapons, as without training, they could very easily end in injury. We'll be using wooden ones for now." said Ozpin. Jaune and Joan went to the weapons rack and picked a wooden sword and spear respectively.

"Now it's time to start..."

=O=

 **CLANG CLANG**

"You're pretty good Jaune. It's a shame that you're gonna lose." said Joan cockily.

"Funny, I was gonna say the same thing about you." replied Jaune. As the two spoke, their weapons clanged, with Jaune's sword being blocked by Joan's spear, while she would retaliate with quick jabbing attacks.

"I see you're not holding back." said Jaune, pushing Joan back.

"Why would I? It's our last match with training weapons. At the very least, we can fight a little better since Ozpin allowed us to use metal training weapons for our last match so it wouldn't do for us to hold back." replied Joan, all the while going on the offensive. As they spoke, Joan blocked yet another hit from Jaune's sword while backing up for the range advantage.

"It's been a year since we've started our training Joan, I know your tricks." said Jaune as he closed the gap between the two in one solid motion, going in for a slice with Joan barely blocking in time.

"Not all of them!" said Joan, pulling her foot from under Jaune, effectively tripping him. By the time he realized what had happened, there was a spear at his throat.

"Good match… Geez, I thought I had you there for a moment." said Jaune, rubbing the back of his head as the match came to an end. Joan offered a hand and helped Jaune up as their mentor came to them.

"Good match you two. Jaune, remember that your weapons aren't limited to what's in your hands. Joan, you did well but you do need to have more ways to fight in close range. Other than that, I can proudly say that you two can fight at the level of student in combat school." said Ozpin with a hint of pride in his voice.

"Thank you Mr. Ozpin! I can't wait to start our next level of training with you!" said the twins with a smile on their faces.

"Unfortunately, I won't be able to be the one who furthers your training. I have to return to Beacon for now, but hopefully when I see you again, it will be as a student." said Ozpin.

"Don't worry Mr. Ozpin, we won't disappoint you!" said Jaune with a smile.

=O=

"Are you sure that this is safe Jaune?" asked Joan skeptically as the duo walked through a forest.

"Of course! We have our weapons with us, Crocea Mors and Gae Bolg, so I'm sure that we can take a stray Beowolf." said Jaune confidently.

"I know we can defeat a Beowolf, but those aren't the only threats Jaune. There are many other types of Grimm here too." said Joan as Nevermore flew overhead.

"Don't worry Joan, I'm sure we can overcome any Grimm we see." said Jaune as they continued their walk.

"… Why are we even out here Jaune?" asked Joan.

"How are we supposed to be hunters if we don't slay any Grimm?" responded Jaune as they walked through the forest.

"We're not _hunters_ , we're hunters in _training_. I agree that we need to fight some Grimm but surely we didn't need to sneak out of the castle. I'm sure father wouldn't have minded and we'd have someone shadowing us to make sure we wouldn't get hurt." said Joan.

"Do heroes of legend have people making sure they won't get hurt? Of course not! They're heroes for a reason and we're heroes in the making." said Jaune with pride.

"I swear… What am I gonna do with you?" said Joan as she sighed. Before Jaune could reply, they heard a bush rustling from behind them. They quickly turned and saw an Beowolf run out of the bushes, heading towards them.

"Jaune!" shouted Joan, alerting her brother whom had already pulled out his sword. As the Beowolf ran at the duo, Joan pulled out her spear and got ready for battle… only for the Beowolf to run past them, completely ignoring them.

"… Is that normal?" questioned Jaune as they watched the Beowolf disappear into another bush. After a few moments, they heard a rumbling coming from the direction of the first bush.

"This isn't going to be good..." said Joan as an Ursa Major came out of the bushes. It stopped and looked at the young twins before letting out a roar at the two.

"Jaune… We're not gonna be able to take that out." said Joan.

"Not with that attitude Joan! Together, we can do anything!" said Jaune with confidence as they rushed towards the Ursa Major.

"Jaune, try to use your shield for blocking the hits while I go for the kill." said Joan quickly as the Ursa came down with a crushing blow. Jaune tried to block it with his shield but the blow was too strong for Jaune and knocked him for back into Joan.

"Jaune! Are you alright?!" asked Joan frantically as Jaune got up.

"Y-Yeah, but I think my arm is broken." said Jaune, taking off his shield and throwing it onto the ground.

"We can't block a hit. We need to avoid any hits. I'll go in as a distraction, you try to kill it." said Joan as she ran towards the Ursa, using her spear for it's intended use and threw it at the Ursa, landing properly in it's shoulder. The Ursa roared in range and tried to swipe at Joan, but she managed to avoid the hit. Suddenly, a sword pierced through the Ursa's chest. The Ursa roared weakly as it fell onto the ground. Jaune then pulled out his sword, with a smile on his face.

"Good job Jaune. I think it's time to head back." said Joan as she walked towards the Ursa, pulling her spear out of it. As she turned around, she heard a low growling coming from behind her.

"JOAN WATCH OUT!" shouted Jaune as she turned towards the Ursa, whom she thought was dead. Before she could do anything, she got hit hard onto her side, sending her spiraling into a tree. She barely managed to remain consciousness as she saw Jaune and the Ursa fight. She started to get up but she could barely feel her left side. Suddenly, Jaune's sword got smacked out of his hand by the Ursa's hand and landed near her.

"Joan help!" said Jaune as he dodged yet another hit. Joan threw her spear to Jaune, who caught it and stabbed the Ursa yet again with it, but as the battle continued on, the two only continued to get more and more damaged and the Ursa refused to go down. During a momentary lull, Jaune called out to Joan.

"Joan… I'm sorry for bringing you into this, it's all my fault… There's only one thing I do to fix this. Joan. Run. Don't look back. I'll try to hold it off for as long as I can. We can't kill it but I can buy you time." said Jaune, holding his new spear as a cane momentarily.

"Jaune no! You'll die!" yelled Joan.

"We'll both die if we stay here and unless one of us stays behind, it'll chase us and kill us that way! Besides, it's possible for me to kill it. It's just as injured as us. If I kill it, I'll be right behind you. Just go!" said Jaune. As he spoke, he kicked the shield towards Joan.

"Take Crocea Mors, you'll need something to defend yourself." said Jaune as they heard the Ursa roar, starting to move towards them with a limp.

"Go!" shouted Jaune.

"You better come back!" yelled Joan, picking up Crocea Mors and started to limp towards the castle. After a few minutes of limping, she heard a scream come from behind her.

"JAUNE!"

=O=

Hey guys, **RWBYBlackFlames** here and I'm glad to show you the end of Chapter 5. Hopefully I'll have more for you soon. As always, I appreciate the reviews so make sure to write a few! Thank you for reading and see you soon. Black Flames out!


	6. The Change

Hey guys, **RWBYBlackFlames** here and I'm glad to present to you Chapter 6 of Jaune's Secret. I'll be trying harder to make longer chapters in the future as well as make them less spaced out as they once were, a.k.a. one month wait. That was bad and we want good. Other than that, I don't really have any other announcements except I will be uploading a new more comedy-esque story soon. I hope you enjoy and Black Flames out!

On a side note, I never planned to get this far in. It was originally going to be 5 chapters and done but things have changed.

 _=O=_

 **Chapter 6**

 **The Change**

" _If you begin to regret, you'll dull your future decisions and let others make your choices for you. All that's left for you then is to die. Nobody can foretell the outcome. Each decision you make holds meaning only by affecting your next decision." ~Erwin Smith_

 _=O=_

"So then what happened?" asked Yang impatiently as Joan retold the story.

"W-What happened n-next is… I'm sorry, It's painful to remember. Please give me a moment…" said Joan, holding back tears as she retold the story. After a minute, Pyrrha spoke up.

"You don't have to Joan… If you don't want to tell us, you don't have to." said Pyrrha sympathetically.

"No… It's time to let someone else know… As I was saying… I managed to get back to the castle… Somehow I got to my father and alerted him of what happened. He sent out men to kill the Grimm and bring back Jaune…" said Joan as she tried to tell the story before stopping for a moment.

"A-All that was left of him w-was h-his arm" said Joan in barely a whisper. After she said that, she started to cry. The others consoled her and somehow, she managed to continue her story.

"He gave up his life for mine, so I decided to return the favor. I'd have to sacrifice my life and everything I'd have wanted but it was for the best. My desires were forfeit. My father and I decided to keep the story to the facts that I died and Jaune survived. He had a T.D.C. custom built and soon, 'Joan' was Jaune. I would continue his dream for him. Jaune Arc would be the hero that he always dreamed. All it costed was my life. A worthy cost." said Joan bitterly.

"Joan!" shouted Ruby, trying to shake her friend out of it but Joan ignored her.

"He was the heir to the family and I was just his sister. He gave up his life to save mine… He sacrificed everything for me. He gave up his dream because of me, he gave up his future, he gave up his life for what? The less successful sibling? I only managed to beat him once! It would've ended better if I was the one who died!" said Joan with bitterness in her voice.

"Joan! Don't say that!" exclaimed Pyrrha.

"No! If he was the one who survived, he wouldn't have had to worry about people discovering his secret! He wouldn't need to practice for hours on just being himself! He wouldn't even have to worry about dragging his team down! He was perfect!" said Joan with tears in her eyes.

"Joan! Jaune's not here! You don't have to like it, but you have to accept it! If you waste your life crying over his death, then you would've wasted his last efforts!" shouted Ruby with an angry look on her face. Joan looked shocked and stayed silent while Nora spoke up.

"Maybe Jauney would've been a better fighter than you, but you're one of the best friends I've ever had! Besides, you're getting better!" said Nora supportively.

"Nora's right Joan, you may not be the best fighter, but you're a great learner! You're already above the level of the average student here! With time and effort, you could be an amazing fighter. Besides, I wouldn't give up our friendship for anything! If you can't see how much of an impact you've made here, then you must be blind!" said Pyrrha. Joan looked surprised at Pyrrha's statement, before sighing. After a moment, she began to speak again.

"You guys are right… He may have given up his life on me, but you're right. I would be ruining his sacrifice if I cried on without him. I need to wipe away the tears and make sure his sacrifice in vain." said Joan, wiping away her tears.

"We'll be there with you." said Ren supportively. After a minute, Joan began to speak.

"I have a question Weiss, when did you begin to suspect?" asked Joan curiously.

"I had a few questions about your character but I only began to suspect when you showed me the dust crystal. Why do you ask?" asked Weiss, to which Joan smiled.

"Really? I thought I was found out at day one, but you didn't suspect anything?! That's amazing!" said Joan with a smile. After a moment of thought, she continued.

"After all, the crystal was bugged in quite a few ways. First off, whenever I'm in a high stress situation, my voice would go back to normal. So if I was scared, I would 'scream like a girl'. Not good considering our line of work." said Joan with a smile. After a moment, she continued.

"Next, it constantly drained my aura. For a normal person it would cripple them, but thankfully to my large reserves, I managed to make due. It was harder during initiation since I only had access to a small fraction of my aura, so I had no protection because of it. And if I tried training it, it would be obvious that something was up." said Joan.

"I knew I felt something stealing away your aura during the time I was unlocking it. I just thought it was healing your scratch at the time but it seems I was mistaken." noted Pyrrha as the group spoke.

"On the other end of the spectrum, I did let out a few obvious signs that something was up. After all, not only did I have a dress, but it fit me perfectly and I wore it to the dance. Personally, I'm just surprised that no-one figured it out on their own." said Joan with a smile.

"Oh my god…" said Yang as she remembered the dance and how no-one questioned 'Jaune' in a dress. After a minute, Nora spoke up.

"So… now what?" asked Nora. The group thought about it for a moment, before Joan spoke up.

"Well, I think it's time for dinner." said Joan with a small smile.

=O=

"That wasn't so bad, was it?" said Joan as they began to walk out. Joan had a quick change of attire, taking one of Pyrrha's spare uniforms and opened the dorm room door.

As the group exited the room, they noticed quite a shocking thing. All over the walls was posters of 'Jaune' with a bad wig and lipstick, with all of them having a caption like 'LIAR' or 'FAKER'. Joan froze at this with a pale look on her face. For a minute, she looked like she was gonna puke but after a moment, she started to walk towards the cafeteria.

"Joan..." said Pyrrha sympathetically as they walked towards the cafeteria. As they walked further on, the posters got cruder and cruder to the point where they felt sick. During their walk, they passed by a group of students who mocked Joan with a sneer. Joan had to hold Yang and Nora back as the students walked away.

"When I find out who did this…" said Yang angrily. They could only imagine how Yang would react to their culprit, and that imagination wasn't pretty.

"It's fine guys, really. They're words don't mean anything to me." said Joan as they walked. After a few minutes, they reached the cafeteria, with the rest of the school eating there. For a moment, Joan hoped that perhaps this moment would go by unnoticed but it wasn't meant to be.

"HEY LOOK, IT'S 'JAUNE'!" shouted a voice. As the voice spoke, others began to speak up and make fun of her. A few looks from Pyrrha and Yang managed to silence a few of them, and a few more stayed quiet out of fear of Nora and Yang, but it was far from preventing it.

"It's gonna be alright Joan..." said Ruby supportively as the cafeteria jeered at them. After a few minutes of eating, the group of students decided that it wasn't enough to make fun of Joan and they started to throw various food items, such as 'People like Grapes' soda cans and tomatoes. Even with the threats of a rage-filled Yang couldn't stop the students.

"It's fine, don't worry." said Joan with a growing frown. In the back, a particularly bold student decided that the tomatoes weren't enough. He grabbed an apple and threw it with an aura-enhanced through at the unsuspecting throw. Joan turned right and saw as he threw it, and braced for the impact, only for it to never come. She opened her eyes and saw that someone had caught the apple. After a moment, they threw the apple back, hitting the culprit with an audible strike. As her savior turned to them, Joan couldn't believe her eyes.

"Cardin?!"

=O=

Hey guys, **RWBYBlackFlames** here and I am glad to present to you the end of Chapter 6. Unfortunately, this didn't go up as soon as I wanted it to be but unfortunately, I wasn't satisfied with the original chapter and had a massive redo. Fortunately, I turned out with this! I hope you enjoy and Black Flames out!


	7. The Joy

Hey guys, **RWBYBlackFlames** here and I am glad to welcome you to Chapter 7. I had quite a fun time in where to take the story this chapter as I had quite a few options, but hopefully I chose the right route. I hope you enjoy and Black Flames out!

I'm super sorry in advance, I really couldn't make a longer chapter. Think of this as a transition chapter to end the Secret Arc to go into a new 'Arc'. Again, thank you for reading! Black Flames out yet again!

=O=

 **Chapter 7**

 **The Joy**

" _To walk in the dark does not mean one has no light. Only that their light isn't strong enough to cut through the dark alone." ~Anonymous_

=O=

"Russel, Sky, Dove, get over here!" shouted Cardin. After a moment, the trio abandoned their lunch and ran over to their team leader to see what he wanted.

"What's up Cardin?" asked Russel with a hint of confusion in his voice.

"You guys remember what we talked about last night?" asked Cardin, for the rest of his team to nod simultaneously. Nora and Yang looked annoyed at the team leader but weren't able to do anything as their partners stopped them.

"Perfect. Alright team, here's how it's gonna go down. Russel, you're in charge of leading the group for taking the posters down. To be honest, didn't expect today to turn out as it did, but hell. If life offers you lemons, make some lemonade. Sky and Dove, you two are with Russel. Make sure that the posters get taken down." said Cardin, instructing his team members.

"Got it Cardin, you can count on us." said Russel, leaving with the other two members of his team to complete their task. As Team CRDL started to work, the two teams of Team RWBY and JNPR sat dumbstruck at what had just happened.

"Ruby, are you going just going to sit there or are you gonna help?" asked Cardin blatantly, while the others looked in confusion. Ruby spoke up in surprise as Cardin addressed her.

"O-Okay! Weiss, Blake, Yang, we're going to go and take the posters down! Who ever gets the most posters wins something from the bakery, courtesy from the others!" said Ruby with a smile, before dashing off with her semblance with her teammates not far behind. Cardin had a small laugh as she organized her team with enthusiasm.

"Ren, let's help!" said Nora before dashing off, with Ren following her, likely to make sure that she wouldn't try to remove the posters with Magnihild. Soon, all that was left of at the table was Joan, Pyrrha and Cardin, with the first two quite confused as Cardin's actions.

"Joan, let's head back to your room. People are gonna be hostile if you stay here, and they're only gonna be intimidated for so long so it's best to leave now. I'm guessing P-Money is coming with us, since she didn't run off. Pyrrha, consider this an 'Escort Mission'." said Cardin. As he finished speaking, he started to head towards the dorms and after a moment, the partners followed him. While they walked, Joan started to question Cardin's actions.

"Cardin… Thanks but why are you doing this?" asked Joan with a confused expression. She didn't oppose it, but it was definitely strange considering his past actions.

"Well… if I have to be honest, it's because of two things. First off, after your stunt in the Forever Falls and how BADLY we got beaten by Pyrrha here, me and my team realized that we need to shape up, both with our teamwork and strength. 'Sides, we're here to be Hunters. Took me a while to figure out what it meant to be a Hunter. To help those who need it and to protect the civs from the Grimm." said Cardin, explaining himself.

"So you're done with the bullying?" asked Joan skeptically.

"Yeah. I might not like the faunus that much, but one day I might need their help. Maybe the last generation wants to be pissed with them, but I'd rather be in their good graces when they're thinking about saving me. I learned that after you saved me from that Ursa" said Cardin.

"I'm glad that you've changed but what about the second reason?" asked Joan curiously.

"Well, I heard your little sap story, and it really tugged at my heartstrings. So when I saw those posters, I decided to help ya out, especially since I screwed you over in our last match." said Cardin. Pyrrha had a surprised look on her face as Cardin spoke.

"Thanks… wait… How did you know about what happened?" asked Joan with a confused look on her face.

"CAUSE YOU KEEP TELLING YOUR SECRETS ON THE ROOF! Jeez, you'd think that after the first time, you'd realize that everybody can hear you on the roof! Anyone who has their window open could've probably heard you." shouted Cardin.

"… Dang it you're right…" said Joan, rubbing the back of her head as she realized her mistake. The group continued to walk silently for several minutes. After a while, Cardin broke the silence.

"So Joan… are you any good at Grifball?" asked Cardin, making small talk. As the two discussed the game, Pyrrha began to wonder what her stance was on Joan.

" **It's fine. Don't worry about it. Jaune isn't here anymore and you never confessed to them anyway, so forget about it"** noted one side of her conscious as she thought about the situation. The other side would not be outdone.

" **Joan or Jaune, they're the person that you fell in love with. All that changed was their gender, does it even matter?"** argued the other side, leaving Pyrrha in a dilemma. Did she love Joan or did she love Jaune? Before she could come up with an answer, someone tapped on her shoulder. She looked over to see that they've already reached the dorm room and Cardin had already left, with Joan looking concerned at her.

"You alright Pyrrha? You seem distracted." said Joan with a worried look on her face. It brought a smile to her face when she saw her leader looking at her with concern. Even after this, she still worried about others over her.

"Don't worry Joan… It's nothing" said Pyrrha with a small smile as the duo walked in.

=O=

In the nearby Emerald Forest, the snores of a young man could be heard in the trees. Generally, there was a rule for the Emerald Forest… or any place outside of the kingdoms. Stay conscious. After all, a Grimm isn't honorable. It'll kill you in your sleep without even blinking.

So as he rested, a spare Beowolf managed to pick up his scent and started to look around for the person, without any luck. As it searched, it stepped on a twig, snapping it, with the sound clear to anyone nearby. After a few seconds, the Beowolf was no more as a blade went deep into it's skull, leaving only a quick yelp before it's untimely death.

"Ugh… Can't I get a break? I try to take a nap for five minutes…" lamented the man as he pulled the dagger out of it's skull. He yawned as he heard more Beowolves barking from beyond the tree line.

"Maybe a work out is just what the doctor ordered… It's time to loosen up and cut loose… I hope you're prepared for me 'Jaune'!" said the man with a smile, pulling out another dagger as the Beowolves closed in on his location.

=O=

Hey guys, **RWBYBlackFlames** here. I hope you enjoyed the chapter! However, gonna leave a small decision up to you. If this runs well, I might let you guys have more influence. Do you think we should include any of the remaining Arc Sisters into the story? Let me know! Otherwise, thank you for reading and Black Flames out!


	8. The Nightmare

Hey guys, **RWBYBlackFlames** here and I'm glad to welcome you to Chapter 7 of Jaune's Secret. I'm glad to say that we are now officially done with the First 'Secret' Arc. Now we can start the next Arc. The _Arc of Dreams_. I hope you like it and Black Flames out!

 **IMPORTANT:** Do you guys want me to include the other sisters of the Arcs? Let me know!

=O=

 **Chapter 8**

 **The Nightmare**

" _Now if you are going to win any battle, you have to do one thing. You have to make the mind run the body. Never let the body tell the mind what to do. The body will always give up. It is always tired in the morning, noon and night. But the body is never tired if the mind is not tired" ~ Anonymous_

=O=

Joan sheathed her weapon as the Ursa's head fell clean off. It was a long, hard fought battle but in the end, they somehow managed to prevail. To her left, her twin was there. She smiled as she turned to him, wiping the blood off of her face.

" _Good work Joan, now all we have to do is..."_ said Jaune. However, before he could finish, she started to feel woozy. She fell to the ground happily, knowing that Jaune was safe… It went black for a moment, before she started to open her eyes, with the sun shining on her eyes.

Joan got up with a smile on her face as the alarm clock went off in her dorm room. As she got up, she saw her other friends trying to get up, ranging from quickly with Pyrrha to a snail's pace with Ren. Fortunately, Nora was always ready to 'help' her friend get out of bed. After a few minutes, everyone was up and ready for the day.

"Okay then, let's get some breakfast and get ready for Port's class!" said Joan with enthusiasm as everyone looked happy and ready for the day except for Ren, who looked rather tired, though that was the normal for him.

As they walked out of the room towards the cafeteria, Joan made sure to knock on Team RWBY's dorm room, as they had a bad habit of sleeping in. Joan smiled as she walked as the other students greeted her as she walked. After what had happened three days ago, with Cardin and his team saving her, it seemed that the school had generally calmed down.

To be honest, she didn't know if it was from the shame of the act from when Team CRDL were the _good guys_ or if it was from fear of the same team, as well as Yang and Nora but she was glad that her fellow students had stopped. Soon, after a rather silent walk, they managed to get to the cafeteria.

"Mornin Joan..." said Cardin as he passed by her while she went to go get her food. Thankfully, Cardin seemed to have turned a new leaf as he promised. Sure, he and the faunus he had been bullying weren't anywhere near trusting each other but it was a start. After a minute, she had her food and went back to their table.

"Yep, Team RWBY slept in again…" said Joan as she saw that the aforementioned team was absent from the cafeteria. She smiled as she saw the team run into the cafeteria run in with haste, and it seemed that Weiss was scolding Ruby, likely for forgetting to set the alarm. Soon, everyone reached the table.

"Ruby, you really need to get that alarm clock fixed or something…" said Joan as they made their way to the table.

"Yeah, but I keep forgetting about it. Heh heh..." said Ruby, scratching the back of her head in embarrassment.

"Why don't you make it into a gun as well or something? You wouldn't forget about that" offered Yang as they sat down. As Ruby glowed with joy at the idea, Weiss immediately rejected the idea.

"No! That's even more dangerous than our bunk beds! Not that they're aren't a death threat…" said Weiss with a sigh as the group laughed. As they laughed, Joan felt suddenly drowsy but managed to shake it off. She had a late night Grifball match with Cardin and their teams, so that must've be why she's tired. After a few minutes, they finished their meals and made their way towards Grimm Studies with Professor Port.

Soon, the group reached Professor Port's classroom. Joan took her seat next to Pyrrha and sat down. After a few minutes, the classroom filled and class began.

"Good morning my fellow hunters, I'm sure you all are as ready to begin the day as I am! But first, we shall begin with a story! Of my days as a refined huntsman! This particular tale begins in the Forever Falls..." The professor began to speak with his tale of adventure and mystery, but as time passed, Joan grew more and more tired. Eventually, she could barely keep her eyes open as her professor told his tale.

… _It wouldn't hurt… if I took a little nap… right?_ thought Joan as she let the sweet grip of sleep take a hold of her.

=O=

Pyrrha happily wrote down notes as the Professor recited his story. What most of the students, including Joan and Nora as well as Team RWBY didn't understand was that hidden in the quite fascinating story was small tips, detailing how the Grimm acted, what their weak spot was, and where they generally live. It even helped her save Joan before with the Ursa when she was tipped off of it's weaker neck area.

"And so, I scattered the horde of Beowolves when I bravely cleaved the Alpha Male in half with my trusty blunder-axe! After that, the Beowolves had provided enough confusion for my team members to decimate a few hundred of them with ease!" boasted the proud professor. She quickly jotted down the information as the professor spoke. It was very useful information to know, but…

"After we finished the Beowolf horde, we returned to the village. The ladies were all over me, but my job was not finished just yet!" said the professor with a valiant expression on his face. Unfortunately, there wasn't always something to be learned. All of a sudden, something fell onto her shoulder softly. She looked over and saw that Joan was had fallen asleep, and had managed to fall onto her shoulder.

 _She looks so cute…_ thought Pyrrha as she saw her sleeping leader, with her snoring barely audible. She couldn't figure out what to do, as she calmly slept next to her. She smiled and decided to let her sleep. She's noticed that Joan has been recently staying up later as a result of extensive studying or the occasional game of Grifball. Not to mention that she generally gets up earlier than the rest of them. She deserved a small nap. Soon, another half hour had passed and the professor's story seemed to be drawing to a close.

"And that's how my team and I destroyed the Grimm Horde of the South! Now that we've gotten that wonderful tale out of the way, I suppose we can discuss something new. The Headmaster has been pushing me to tell you about new types of Grimm, so I think this is the perfect time to do so!" said the Professor. All the students bar Joan bolted up, excited for something that wasn't just a war story.

"Yeah Grimm!" said Nora happily.

"I'm glad we have some enthusiasm… Hmm? Ms. Nikos, could you please wake your partner? I'd rather have it with everyone listening for our first discussion." said the plump professor, motioning to her sleeping partner, with the class giggling at their predicament.

"Joan!" whispered Pyrrha, attempting to wake up her leader and partner. Joan didn't even move as Pyrrha called to her. Pyrrha started to shake Joan, and as soon as her hands touched her, she jolted back. She was ice cold!

"What the…" Pyrrha was shocked as took a second look at Joan. Her face had turned into a frown, but that was the smallest change. Her skin had changed from a healthy bright look to a pale shade of gray, and she barely seemed to be breathing.

"Professor Port!" yelled the red-headed huntress in shock. No sooner than she had called for him than he had already made his way over to the partners. Pyrrha moved out of the way as Port came. He took one look at Joan before checking her pulse.

"Alright… Miss Nikos, help me put her on the desk." said the Professor with an authoritative tone in his voice. Pyrrha snapped herself out of it and helped the professor put Joan on the desk. Thankfully, there was nothing on it at the time so they quickly put Joan on the table with little trouble.

"Miss Nikos, please stand back." said the professor with a grim look on his face. Pyrrha complied, and after a moment the Professor's hands started to glow. He put his hand on Joan's stomach and chest, and then his hands started to glow white. Suddenly, the two flashed white. After the light faded, she saw the Professor looking fatigued.

"What did you do?" questioned Pyrrha. However, before the professor could answer, Joan started to cough up blood violently. After a moment, she calmed down and became still again.

"What did you do?!" shouted Pyrrha in shock.

"It seems we were too late to cure this off altogether… It seems your friend is in stage two in _Grimm's Night…_ " said the Professor, ignoring Pyrrha.

"What do you mean?" question Pyrrha.

"In simple terms, your partner is in a nightmare. However, this is no ordinary nightmare. It starts by making you more and more tired. Generally, the first stage is the best stage to be in as you can get rid of it altogether. If you pump aura into the infected person's body, it will rid their body of the virus. However, since she isn't awake, she must be in stage two." said the professor with a frown on his face.

"How do you know she has this 'disease' and not something else?" questioned Pyrrha.

"Take a look at the blood she coughed out… It says all you need to know." said the Professor with a grim expression. Pyrrha took a look at Joan's pale face, and saw that there was a small stream of blood coming from Joan's mouth. However, that wasn't the shocking part.

The blood was black.

"Mr. Port! What do we do?!" asked Pyrrha in shock.

"Take Joan to the infirmary, tell the doctors that she is in stage two of Grimm's Night. We don't have any time to lose." said Professor Port. Almost as soon as he said it, the remainder of Team JNPR had already taken Joan and left it.

"Class is dismissed." said Professor Port with a sigh as he walked to back to his desk. As he sat down, and prepared to call the infirmary, a student managed to make their way up to him.

"Oh, Ms. Ecclesia, what can I do for you?" asked the Professor.

"If I may ask, how did you know what to do? About Joan?" asked the blonde huntress in training.

"When you've fought the Grimm as much as I have, you generally know your Grimm and what they can do. Unfortunately, I've seen Grimm's Night be the end of quite a few of my comrades. The thing about it is that you can't fight it, only stop it." said the Professor with a solemn look.

=O=

"…" Pyrrha could only stare as she looked at her team leader. What had been a strong and joyful team leader this morning had been reduced to the pathetic state she was currently in, with her condition slowly deteriorating as time passed.

"Good evening Miss Nikos." said Professor Ozpin as he walked into the infirmary room.

"… Good evening Headmaster…" said Pyrrha with a depressed look on her face. She may have been the best fighter among her group of friends, but what good did her fighting skills if this was an enemy she couldn't fight.

"I admire your dedication to your partner Miss Nikos. You seem to be the only one who decided to stay by her side, while the others have decided to call it a night." said the headmaster with a respectful gaze. He had passed the other members of her team as well as Team RWBY, resting in the waiting room.

"I can't even bring myself to leave. She's done so much for us, and been through so much. Yet she stayed by our sides no matter how horrible the circumstances had been for her." said Pyrrha valiantly.

"I'm glad you feel that way, and I have good news for you." said Ozpin, taking a sip from his coffee.

"What's that?" asked Pyrrha curiously.

"We've found someone who can help. We've found a specialist in Grimm's Night."

=O=

Hey guys, **RWBYBlackFlames** here and I'm glad to present to you the end of the chapter and start of the second arc. Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed. I'll try to get another chapter out before the end of the week. Black Flames out!


	9. The Dream

Hey guys, **RWBYBlackFlames** here and I am glad to present to you a Chapter 9 of Jaune's Secret! I hope you enjoy it and don't forget to leave a review! Black Flames out!

=O=

 **Chapter 9**

 **The Dream**

" _All men dream, but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to find it was vanity; but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act on their dreams with open eyes, to make them possible" ~ T. E. Lawrence_

=O=

"You found a specialist?!" asked Pyrrha as Ozpin told her the news.

"Indeed. It was hard, as the cases with _Grimm's Night_ are few and far. Fortunately, I managed to find one who was in Vale. They were ecstatic at the opportunity to research this strange disease. I wouldn't be surprised if they were here within the hour." said Ozpin, taking a sip of coffee with his expression unreadable.

"That's excellent! I'm going to go tell the others!" said Pyrrha happily as she rushed out of the room to tell her currently sleeping friends. As the door closed behind her, Ozpin put down his coffee mug on the bedside table as he took a look at the fallen Arc.

"Joan… I had wanted to see you again, but not like this. Never like this…" said the professor bitterly as he looked at the fallen Arc. While it was amazing that they found a specialist so fast and that they would arrive so quickly, Joan's chances had barely improved.

Not only did they not have the proper supplies at the time to improve her chances, as a result of said supplies expiring too quickly for it to be useful, but it was the fact that she was so far into the disease. Her skin had paled into a sickly white while her hair started to lose it's color. It wouldn't be long before her eye's color followed suit.

While Ms. Nikos ran off to tell her friends the good news, Ozpin had yet to tell her the bad news. Even with a specialist, there was a fact that couldn't be ignored.

 _No-one has ever survived Stage Two of Grimm's Night._

=O=

"Guys! Headmaster Ozpin said that he found a specialist!" said Pyrrha happily as she woke up her friends. Her friends had been excused from classes for the day by the headmaster to stay with Joan. They had decided to rest for a little while, as it was nearly 2 in the morning. After a few minutes, her friends had woken up.

"You said that Ozzy found a specialist?" questioned Nora as she rubbed her eyes.

"Yep! They should be here soon!" said Pyrrha. The group seemed to light up as she told them the news. As the group talked with each other, a woman with light blue hair and a lab coat walked in.

"Ah, you must be…" Pyrrha started to greet the woman… before she walked past her, clearly having no interest in her. She walked past Joan's room, rounded a corner and left.

"… Well that was awkward…" said Nora as they watched the woman leave. Suddenly, a voice rang out from behind them.

"EXCUSE ME!" The group turned around to see a green haired woman, with her face red from shouting. The woman was wearing a black and green hoodie, and had glasses.

"Huh? I'm sorry, I didn't notice you there." said Yang, The group looked at the clearly upset woman.

"I've been trying to get your attention for five minutes! How could you NOT notice me…" said the woman with a pout.

"Sorry, heh heh. What's up?" asked Yang, looking at the smaller woman.

"I heard there was someone with _Grimm's Night_ here. Do you happen to know where they are?" questioned the woman.

"Yeah, that's our friend you're talking about! What do you need with her… uh, who are you again?" questioned Ruby.

"I'm sorry, I must have forgotten to tell you my name. I'm Doctor Olivia! Mr. Ozpin said that there was someone here with it and I got here as soon as I could!" said Olivia with a smile.

"What happened to you? It looks like you just got out of bed." said Yang, commenting on how messy the woman looked.

"Well. I DID just get out of bed. As soon as I heard that someone here had it, I just put on the first thing I saw, and ran to the nearest airship! Heh..." said the woman, rubbing the back of her head while the others looked sweatdropped.

"Never mind that, where's the patient?" questioned Olivia quickly, with determination in her eyes. After a moment, Pyrrha leaded the group towards Joan's room. Soon, they neared it and saw the Headmaster leave.

"That's odd…" noted Weiss, as they saw the headmaster leave the room silently. Generally, he seemed to be an upbeat person, and when he wasn't crushing the hopes of freshmen in speeches, he seemed to be quite nice.

"Anyways, let's see who this patient is…" said Olivia as she opened the door and laid her eyes upon Joan. She stood in the doorway for a moment before she closed the door and faced the group again.

"You said she was your friends?" asked Olivia without any emotion in her voice.

"Yeah, the best! Why?" responded Nora.

" _What did you do to Joan?"_ said Olivia in a voice with tranquil fury. She had lost all forms of friendliness and turned with a rather calm face, with it's fury only being betrayed by her voice. This alone left the group quite surprised.

"W-What do you mean?" questioned Ruby as the intimidation set in.

"Let me repeat my name. My full name is _Olivia V. Arc_. My knowledge of Grimm is only trumped by my knowledge of human anatomy, and that in turn pales in comparison to my love of my siblings. The disease known as _Grimm's Night_ occurs when Grimm blood gets into the bloodstream, likely from an open cut. It can stay dormant for many months, even years." said Olivia with an eerily calm voice.

"Lot's of people get cuts on the battlefield. And Joan has killed her fair share of Grimm! I-" reasoned Pyrrha, before she was interrupted by Olivia.

"Now, that is not the important part. As you said, lot's of people can get cuts during a battle, so that is reasonable. Now, the important part is how it becomes active. _Grimm's Night_ becomes active when two variables are filled. The first is when someone VERY close to them dies. Someone so close that it would permanently leave a hole in their soul. For Joan, it would be her twin brother Jaune. Now we have a problem when it comes to the second variable." said the doctor with a frown.

"W-What's the second variable?" questioned Nora.

"The second variable is quite simple. The person must be completely overcome with despair. They must have all forms of hope and happiness shattered. Generally, this comes from when someone close to them, or a group of people close to them COMPLETELY betray them, or die. Seeing that you're here, allow me to ask you one more time. _**What did you do to Joan?**_ " questioned Olivia with hints of rage in her voice. Even Weiss was a little scared of Olivia.

"W-We can explain!" said Nora quickly as Olivia stared them down.

=O=

"… I see. That would trigger it." said Olivia in a deep thought as Pyrrha finished the story. Fortunately, Olivia had seemed to calm down. Yang smiled as she saw the similarities with her and Olivia. During the course of the story, they moved inside the room so Olivia could monitor Joan.

"Alright, so what do we need to do about Joan?" questioned Pyrrha.

"Let me see… Joan is in a good condition, all things considered. According to what Ozpin told me, we caught her early on into the disease. Unfortunately, it cost half a day to find and get me here. Fortunately, her condition has stabilized for now…" said Olivia, trailing off.

"Is there anything we can do?" questioned Ruby, sadly looking at her first friend. The doctor looked at Joan for a moment, deep in thought. After a minute, she answered.

"There's only one thing that I could think off. There's a certain flower known as the Espoir Flower. It's been known to increase a person's aura ten-fold, at least for a small while. It's also been known to help negate the effects of Grimm's Night. However, it's lifespan is barely a day outside of it's natural environment and nobody's managed to replicate said environment…" said Olivia.

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go get them!" said Nora enthusiastically. Unfortunately, Olivia did not share this enthusiasm.

"Well, the Espoir flower can only grow in environments that have been infested with Grimm, particularly with Deathstalkers. Don't ask me why they grow around them, but for whatever reason, they do. Since the Deathstalkers don't like it when human's are on their territory, it's generally difficult to manage to get the flower in one piece." responded Olivia.

"So what do you recommend we do?" questioned Weiss.

"Well, that flower is the only hope Joan has right now. Unfortunately, I can't leave her side as I'm the only one who can treat her. I know there is a small area in the Forever Falls that is filled with Deathstalkers, but it would take too long to locate and retrieve it. If any of you have suggestions, I'd like to hear it." said Olivia. After a moment, Pyrrha's face lit up as realization hit her and she began to speak.

"I remember that there was a cave that had a rather large Deathstalker in it. Joan… and I stumbled into it during initiation. We only saw one Deathstalker, but it's possible that there was more. The cave was extremely close to the cliff in the Emerald Forest. I could bring you to it easily." said Pyrrha, remembering the initiation.

"That's excellent! If you're right, then there should be a Espoir Flower somewhere near that area. Time is of the essence, so you need to get Ozpin's permission to go down there and retrieve it!" said Olivia. Almost as soon as she said it, the group's scrolls beeped. They looked and saw that Ozpin had already assigned them for a mission to get the flower, allowing them free access to the Emerald Forest.

"Alright then, let's go!" said Ruby, leading the group out.

=O=

Joan opened her eyes drearily, looking around her. She didn't bother getting up as she looked up... She just didn't have the strength... All she could see is darkness, all around her. It looked like she was in an abyss, with nothing around her. Only after a second she did she realize that she was in some sort of dark liquid. But that didn't matter to her. She felt really tired, almost as if something was sapping her strength, and before long, she had started to feel drowsy again...

 _'I've been working so hard... I've been giving it my all... It's been_ such _a long time since I've had time to relax... I deserve a nice long nap...'_ thought Joan as she let the darkness take her yet again.

=O=

Hey guys, **RWBYBlackFlames** here and I hope you liked the chapter! Thank you for reading and I'll hopefully have another chapter out soon! I hope you enjoyed! Black Flames out!


	10. The Lost

Hey Guys, **RWBYBlackFlames** here and I'm glad to present to you Chapter 10 of Jaune's Arc. Normally, I'd conclude my introduction right about now, but I have an announcement to make! I will be continuing my story, _Arc Angel_! It's been quite a while since I've last worked on it but it's time to continue it. By the time you read this, I'll be working on it. I'm glad to have gotten enough free time to work on two projects! Anyways, thank you for deciding to read this story! Black Flames out!

 **N** **OTE:** I have edited the ending of **Chapter 9**. Things have changed and the story won't make sense later on if you don't take a quick look. Thanks again for reading!

=O=

 **Chapter 10**

 **The Lost**

" _It is an admirable, and may I say fundamental quality of man, that when faced with extinction, **every** alternative is preferable." ~ The Former Director of Project Freelancer; Dr. Leonard L. Church_

=O=

"Okay then, let's get geared up and make our way to the cliffs! Then, Pyrrha will take us to where she found the Deathstalker!" said Ruby enthusiastically as the groups made their way to the locker rooms. All they needed to do was find a flower, that wouldn't be too hard… right?

"Let's do this!" said Nora enthusiastically as the group walked. They quickly made their way to the locker rooms as fortunately, it was close to the arena and infirmary, likely due to the likely to the fact that lots of people got injured during practice. Soon, they reached it and began to gear up.

"Make sure to pack some incendiary ammo, the Deathstalker's armor is quite resilient." said Pyrrha as she loaded her gun, packing a few magazines of the aforementioned ammo.

After a few minutes, everyone had finished preparing and started to head towards the cliffs. Before they could get far, they heard a shout from behind them. They turned and saw that Olivia was running towards them, trying to get their attention.

"Geez… You guys sure move fast…" said Olivia with a sigh as she caught up to the group.

"What's up Olivia?" questioned Yang.

"I forgot to show you what the Espoir flower looks like! I'm surprised you didn't ask me about it…" said Olivia with a sigh. The group sweatdropped as they realized their mistake.

"So what does it look like?" questioned Ruby.

"Take a look at this." Olivia pulled out her scroll and opened up a picture of the flower. It had five petals, which were primarily black in color while it had specs of white scattered on it.

"Alright, seems simple enough. Let's go get that flower… unless Olivia has anything else to share with us. Anything else we need to know?" questioned Yang.

"No, that's it. Good luck!" said Olivia as the group began to head towards the cliffs again. After a moment, she smiled as the group left. Joan had gone and gotten herself some good friends.

=O=

"Headmaster… Why did you send Team RWBY and JNPR to go after the flower? Surely you could've sent a team of professional hunters, or at the least a Year 4 team…" said Professor Goodwitch with a sigh as she confronted Ozpin.

"Glynda, it was the only plausible option. Unfortunately, it would take far too long to contact the Hunter's Guild and have them track down an Espoir flower. Joan would be dead long before they could return. And for the same reason, it would take too long for us to get a higher level team to do it. It would take too long to coordinate as well as to find a Deathstalker nest." said Ozpin, taking a sip from his mug.

"And why would Teams RWBY and JNPR be more qualified?" questioned Glynda. Sure, they were one of the best fighters of their year, bar Joan, but that was no reason to pick them over others.

"Glynda, is it not obvious? While the other options would take long to coordinate and find a flower, the two teams have the best chances. Miss Nikos and Miss Arc had stumbled into a nest during their initiation. I later looked into the same nest and saw quite a few of the flowers. With those facts in mind as well as the fact that they could have been out there in half an hour, I believe that was the correct decision." said Ozpin.

"I see…" said Glynda, as she looked at the solemn headmaster. There was silence as the two looked at each other, but before Glynda could speak up, Ozpin began to speak.

"Glynda, I've made many mistakes. More so than I can count. I have easily made more mistakes than any man, woman or child on this planet. Some mistakes have been small, others… have been quite large. I refuse to let another of my mistakes affect Joan. This is her best, and only chance." said Ozpin.

=O=

"Make sure to follow me." said Pyrrha, before her launchpad went off. Suddenly, she was in the air as the launchpad's mechanisms worked. Even without looking, she could tell that her friends weren't far behind.

She quickly steadied herself and aimed for a tree that was relatively near the cave. After a moment, she broke through a few trees, neutralizing any damage with her aura, and landed onto a branch. Suddenly, out of instinct, she quickly pulled out Miló, and looked down the sights.

"It's been a while…" Pyrrha sighed as she remembered Joan wouldn't be joining them on this mission. She jumped down from the tree, killing the few Grimm that were nearby and took a seat. After a few minutes, she heard rustling from the bushes and aimed her gun at the bush, only for Yang to come out.

"P-Money, that's not very nice. You could hurt someone." said Yang jokingly as she walked up to the amazon. Pyrrha sighed and put down her weapon as the blonde poked fun at her. Minute by minute, the others began to show up, and soon their group was complete.

"So what now?" questioned Yang.

"Now we head to the Deathstalker nest. The cave was this way… I think…" said Pyrrha with uncertainty as she started to walk towards the what she thought to be the cave.

"Think?" questioned Weiss. Nevertheless, the group started to follow Pyrrha. She followed her memory and eventually made her way to where she had initially found Joan. She had stopped and looked at the same tree, almost in a trance, until Weiss shook her.

"I know it's hard, but we need to hurry. If we don't, then this would've been all for nothing." said Weiss, reminding her of the time limit. Pyrrha silently nodded her head and continued walking towards the cave.

Fortunately, even though they were walking through the forest through the night, the Grimm seemed to be few and far in numbers, so they only had a few interruptions before they reached the cave. Pyrrha smiled as she remembered Joan during that time, but now was not the time for memories.

"So what's the plan?" questioned Yang as the group looked into the cave. The group looked at Pyrrha expectantly and after a moment, Pyrrha began to speak.

"It's extremely dark in that cave. We're going to need a light source as outside of the Deathstalkers, it's going to be difficult to see anything. If any of you have suggestions, I'll take them now." said Pyrrha, taking charge of the situation. After a moment, Nora spoke up.

"I have an idea! How about we take some of Weiss's fire dust and light the cave on fire! Then we can see and the Deathstalkers will be dead!" said Nora, but she was shot down rather fast.

"Nora, it would light up the cave, but it would take too much dust for it to burn for any significant amount of time. Not to mention that we couldn't go in and it would likely burn and flowers in there." said Pyrrha. After a moment, Blake spoke up.

"Maybe Nora's idea has some light to it. I've brought some fire dust crystals with me, just in case. Perhaps we can ignite them like Professor Goodwitch did and use them to light the way! We don't need to burn anything except a little aura, and I'm sure that Weiss brought some as well. We could even throw them down the cave to see what's in front of us." said Blake, taking out some dust crystals.

"That might just work! I'd say that's our best bet. Blake, if you will…" said Pyrrha. Blake took one of the crystals and applied some of her aura to it and threw it down the cave, lighting it up as it rolled, only to see countless Deathstalkers being illuminated.

'This is going to be a long night…' thought Pyrrha as she equipped Miló and prepared for battle as the Deathstalkers started to get up because of the sudden light.

=O=

Joan slowly opened her eyes as she started to wake up again. She took another look around her surroundings and noticed that nothing had changed. She was still in that endless black void. However, despite her body's protest, she started to get up as she heard a booming voice, seemingly coming from nowhere and everywhere at the same time.

" **WHO ARE Y** **O** **U?"** commanded the voice as she looked around for it's source. After a moment's hesitation, she started to answer.

"I'm… I'm…" she attempted to answer the being, but to her shock, she had realized that she had somehow forgotten her own name. She tried to recall more of her memories, but it was all hazy.

' _I'm the leader… of something? I… am training? I… have…'_ questioned her tired mind as she tried to recall more and more of her memories. However, no matter how hard she tried, she could only get small tidbits of her memory. Before she could delve deeper into the matter, the voice spoke again.

" **WHO ARE YO** **U?** " said the voice, repeating itself. This time, she had an answer.

"I… don't know…" she said with a tinge of sadness. She waited for what seemed like an eternity, but the voice didn't respond. Soon she started to feel tired, and she decided to let it take her. Maybe she would remember when she woke up… Sleep was sounding better… and better…

=O=

Hey guys, **RWBYBlackFlames** here and that was Chapter 10. I regret having a shorter chapter but I have good news for you. Next chapter is going to be the longest by far. I'm already working into it, and as I work, I'll also be working on Arc Angel. Other than that, I have nothing else to say except for that I hope you enjoyed, Black Flames out!


	11. The Fight

Hey guys, **RWBYBlackFlames** here and I'm glad to present to you the Season 1 Finale of Jaune's Secret. Thank you for all the support, I do this for you guys. Other than that, I have nothing else to tell you except I hope you enjoy this extra long chapter! There will be more information at the end of the chapter, regarding my other stories and other things. Happy Holidays, and Black Flames out!

=O=

 **Chapter 11**

 **The Fight**

" _Your past doesn't define who you are. It just gives you a starting place for who you're going to be"_

 _~ Agent Carolina_

=O=

"What am I going to do with you Joan…" sighed Olivia as she monitored her sister's vitals. It had been nearly half an hour since the two teams left to get the flower, but as time ticked away, Joan's status only continued to deteriorate.

Not only that, but she's been having a weird feeling for the past twenty minutes. She felt like something, or somebody was watching her. She just couldn't shake the feeling that something was off. But maybe that was the lack of sle-

"…Good Evening Miss Arc, I hope I'm not interrupting anything." said a voice from behind her suddenly. She quickly turned and saw it was Professor Oobleck.

"Geez, you almost gave me a heart … Anyways, what can I do for you this evening?" questioned Olivia as she addressed the doctor. To be perfectly honest, maybe a talk with an old mentor would be for the best.

"I came to take a look at one of my students, how is Joan doing?" questioned Oobleck.

"All things considered, she's doing amazing! Her Aura seems to be holding out and she seems to be stable. If Team RWBY and JNPR can return soon, Joan will be fine." said Olivia with a smile. However, the coffee loving professor saw past the forced smile.

"Miss Olivia, please be truthful with me. The freshmen teams aren't here, so you can drop the facade. What is Joan's actual condition?" questioned the Professor, taking a sip of his drink as Olivia answered.

"Even after all these years, I still can't hide anything from you…" said Olivia with a depressed tone.

"It's only natural. After all, it seems that you spent more time in my class, as well as Peter's, more than anywhere else. You even apprenticed under me for a few years! You were a person of science, just like me. And as a person of science, I must ask you. What do you think of the patient's condition?" questioned Oobleck.

"… Right now, Joan is physically stable. However, with this disease, that doesn't matter. Unlike other diseases, _Grim_ _m's_ _Night_ targets the users aura itself and attempts to destroy it. In a sense, it tries to kill the soul rather than the body. All we can do to measure the damage is look at Joan's aura as well as her eyes and hair, which are connected to her aura, and even then the results are spotty at best. We can only hope that the teams arrive in time." said Olivia, adjusting her glasses.

"… I see, so the flower must either boost the user's aura level or expel the virus from the system." said Oobleck.

"It boosts the aura levels of the user by nearly tenfold, and when it was tested in a lab, it seems to attack the virus. However, we haven't had the opportunity to test this on the field, as we're always too slow to do anything…" said Olivia with a frown. There was silence for the next few minutes as the two stared at each other. Suddenly, the doctor broke the silence.

"My dear, I believe I have an idea! If the flower fails to exterminate the virus, then this might just work…" said Oobleck. Olivia waited in silence for her mentor to elaborate, only for silence to follow.

"Do you want to share with the class what that idea is Doctor?" said Olivia.

"Of course, my apologies. This idea could be dangerous, but it might just work. We'll need to contact Peter to confirm, but if it checks out, then we'll have a back up! Hear me out…"

=O=

"Jeez, how many of these overgrown scorpions are there?!" shouted Yang in annoyance as she punched a pair of the Deathstalkers into the horde, and then proceeded to shoot one of the larger ones with Ember Celica. However, no matter how many she punched, there would still be more. Ruby wanted to help, but she had her own problems as she shot at a Deathstalker that was approaching Yang from behind, with little success.

While people like Yang and Nora had little problem with the Deathstalkers, Ruby, Pyrrha and Weiss were having difficulty with the scorpions, while it was nearly impossible for Ren and Blake to get any progress. They had been forced to make Nora and Yang orbit the group, taking out most of the Deathstalkers while their group was focusing on taking out any stragglers. Ren and Blake had been reduced to scouting for the flowers since their ammo couldn't pierce the Deathstalker's armor anymore, as well as Ren's aura being low from repeated hits. Thankfully, with Blake's night vision, they were getting some progress.

It didn't initially turn out this poorly, as in the beginning they were able sweep through the cave, but as soon as Blake and Ren ran out of their armor piercing rounds, they had lost nearly all the momentum they had been carrying. Ruby herself still had quite a bit of ammo, as her bullets could easily kill the smaller and medium sized ones, but the same could not be said for Pyrrha and Weiss. They were running rather low on ammo. Soon, they'd be reduced to the side lines.

The worst news of all? There were two of the larger Deathstalkers, like the ones that they fought during initiation, fighting them. Fortunately, one was crippled as it had lost it's stinger and a pincer, but the other one was busy fighting Yang. Yang's semblance has been building up so she's been doing the most of the group, but they couldn't keep this up forever.

Not only that, but there was also another unknown threat. The threat of getting lost in the cave. If they got lost, it wouldn't matter if they found the flower or not.

"Rubes, what's the plan?!" shouted Yang between the gunshots. She was at an impasse as she tried to decide what to do. If she left and abandoned the mission, her teammates would survive but Joan would die. She could continue on the mission, but there was no guarantee that they'd find the flower. Her teammates could also get hurt… She could either doom her first friend to death, or potentially get her friends hurt… This was the ultimate decision.

"Guys...we're-" Before Ruby could announce her decision, Blake interrupted her with a shout.

"I found a flower!" shouted Blake, pointing in a corner. Ruby squinted and saw the fabled flower. There wasn't even any Deathstalkers near it. Before she could say anything, Yang yelled over to her.

"Rubes! Grab the flower and get out!" shouted Yang.

"But-" Ruby tried to reply, but Yang didn't allow her.

"We'll be fine Rubes, don't worry about us! Just get out of here!" shouted Yang. After a moment, Ruby complied and ran over and grabbed the Espoir flower. She turned and ran back, dodging the occasional Grimm. After a few minutes of running, she saw the entrance in the distance, but it was blocked by the Deathstalkers. Fortunately, she managed to see a narrow path that she could use to get out.

"I'm coming Joan!" said Ruby as she activated her semblance, racing past the Deathstalkers, while shielding the flower with her hands, and raced out into the open. She could only hope that her teammates could handle themselves… As she looked out, she saw that the sun was already out. They had wasted far too much time in the cave. She needed to get back to Beacon.

=O=

"WHO ARE YOU?" questioned the voice yet again. This time, instead of a black abyss staring at her, it seemed that no matter where she looked, it was a blinding light. She still couldn't move.

"WHO ARE YOU?" She still didn't have an answer for it, again. The black water still seemed to be rising. It weighed down on her, she could barely move. Just lifting a finger became an exercise. There was still a problem, however.

She still couldn't remember much. Her memory seemed to be fading. She could no longer remember where she came from or how she got here. It didn't help that the same voice kept droning out the same words. She started to feel the same drowsiness from before and let it take her without a fight. She slept for what seemed like an eternity only to be awoken by a new voice.

She couldn't hear exactly what it was saying, but it felt important to her. It sounded… familiar. She struggled to open her eyes as she started to wake up. She wanted to give up and let the sleep take her again, but this voice. She had to figure out who was speaking this time, and what they were saying.

The darkness was not easy with her, as every inch she moved felt like she was trying to move a mountain. Yet somehow, she managed to turn her head. She was rewarded to see a faint pinprick of light in the distance. She tried to swim towards the light, but she could barely move.

As she gradually moved closer and closer to the light, she noticed that it became easier and easier to move. It was still difficult, but she was gaining progress.

"J—!" shouted the voice. Her ears perked as she tried to catch what it was saying, but failed to catch anything. She _would_ figure out what it was saying. She moved forward, towards the voice, only to stop as she heard something behind her. Growling.

She looked behind her and saw small pinpricks of red light, almost shaped like eyes, in the distance. Almost like stars. She started to feel drowsy, but this time she fought it off. She couldn't sleep. Not yet.

"Jo-" shouted the voice as she got closer and closer. The light had grown as she had gotten closer and closer. She heard another growl and turned to see a creature running at her in the distance, it almost looked like a bear…

She moved forward towards the voice in a panic as she tried to get away from the creature.

"Joa-" She could almost hear what the voice was saying as she neared the light, but it was muffled. She could hear the creature gaining on her but she made a final push for the light. She could see a hand extending from the light as she inched closer and closer.

She could hear the creature nearing her as she closed the gap between the light and the dark. In a few moments, the creature would be upon her and she knew the consequences wouldn't be pretty. It didn't want her to go to the light. She reached for the hand as time seemed to slow. The roar of the beast seemed to be right in her ears as she grabbed the hand.

"Joan!"

=O=

"… You gotta be kidding me…" said Ruby as she reached the bridge. Or what remained of it. She had ran over here to get an easy way back to the cliffs, and in turn get to Beacon faster. But she had forgotten one key detail.

They had completely destroyed the bridge during initiation. It wasn't all that surprising that it would still be destroyed, but Ruby thought that maybe Professor Goodwitch would have repaired it already. Though to be fair, the next year's initiation wasn't for a while… Anyways, she needed to get to Beacon fast.

"How do I get back..." hummed Ruby as she tried to figure it out. She looked around the ravine and couldn't see any end to it. The mountain that it was connected to was too steep for her to run up. And with no bridge, it seemed nearly impossible to cross.

"I guess I have no choice…" said Ruby as she ran back. Without a safe way to cross the gap, she couldn't use this route. There must be an alternate way to get up the cliff, somewhere. She ran at full speed back towards the cliff, in a hopes to find an easy way back up. After a few minutes of running, she finally saw a way up the cliff in the distance. A pair of stairs built into the cliff face. It was rather steep, but it would do.

"Joan, I'm com-" As Ruby ran to the stairs, she suddenly tripped over something. She couldn't stop in time and hit the ground hard, rolling several feet before being stopped forcefully as she bumped into a tree. Thankfully the aura negated any potential damage to her, though it took her a minute to regain her bearings. As she got up, she noticed something.

She wasn't holding the flower.

She quickly ran around, looking for the precious flower. After a few moments, she spotted it on the ground. But unfortunately, it didn't have aura to protect it like she did. It had been crushed in the fall. Petals had been scattered everywhere and the stem was broken off from the flower.

"No…" whispered Ruby as she gripped at the remains of the flower. Without the flower, Joan didn't have a chance at survival. The only thing she could do was head back to the cave and hope that her teammates were nearby. They would need to get the flower again, but this time without most of their ammo and aura… It was suicide…

She was at the same decision again. Either allow Joan to die and walk away from this, or go back and risk everyone'slives. Her first friend or all of them… She was at that fateful decision again. There was no going back… She had to-

"Little Rose, why are you so far from your garden?" questioned a voice. She turned around and saw a man with black hair. He had a black jacket, red shirt, and black pants. He had a pair of knives clipped at his side. After a moment, he spoke again.

"It seems that you've lost the Espoir flower. How unfortunate." said the man with a subtle frown.

"How did you know-" questioned Ruby.

"I have my sources. Anyways, it seems that you've gone on and destroyed the flower. Without it, Joan will succumb to Grimm's Night. It seems that you're in trouble." said the man. Ruby stayed silent as the guilt overtook her. It was all her fault.

"It seems that today is your lucky day after all little rose. During my morning walk, I happened to come across an Espoir flower. Seeing that such a beautiful rose needs it, I would be honored to give it to you." said the man. After a moment, he pulled out the flower from who knows where and gave it to her. She hesitated for a moment before taking it.

"Don't drop it." commanded the man.

"T-Thank you!" said Ruby before running away, up the stairs. As soon as she was out of eyesight, the man started to laugh.

"Geez, didn't anyone ever teach her to NOT accept gifts from strangers?" said the man. After a moment, a woman came out of the underbrush.

"It's not like she had much of a choice Nero." said the woman with a smirk.

"Especially when she tripped all over your aura strings. It made our job all the easier. Anyways, go call Fall, tell her that we've completed our end of the deal and that we're waiting for the lien." said Nero with a smile.

=O=

"Olivia! I got the flower!" Ruby burst into the hospital room, flower in hand… only to see Olivia and Oobleck talking to each other, with serious looks on their faces.

"O-Oh… Did I come in at a bad time?" asked Ruby as she stared at the two green headed people.

"… No! No, it's fine Ruby. Don't worry about it! Anyways, you said you had the flower, right?" said Olivia, reassuring the crimson reaper.

"Yeah, here it is!" Ruby handed over the flower to Olivia, who examined it. She stayed silent for a minute as she looked the flower over. Finally she spoke up.

"It looks a bit darker than it should be, but that's to be expected since it lives a majority of it's life in a cave. Thanks Ruby, we should be good! Take a breather and wait for you team, we should be good." said Olivia with a smile. Ruby took a seat and relaxed as she saw Olivia washed the plant.

"So Miss Olivia, how will you use the flower?" questioned Oobleck.

"Well, I need to wash it. Then, I'll ground it up put it into this container. Add some other materials and you'll have the most energizing drink there is! And since the flower naturally eliminates the virus, Joan should be fine after a few hours!" said Olivia with a smile.

Olivia continued to prepare the drink, humming a small melody as she did. Ruby decided to take a look at Joan. She had not improved, which was to be expected. Her hair had completely turned gray and her skin was deathly pale.

"Don't worry Ms. Rose, Olivia was one of my best students. The only thing that rivaled her knowledge of Grimm was her knowledge of the human body. Joan is in good hands. Take a seat and relax. She has this covered." said Oobleck, reassuring the huntress.

"Alrighty then Professor." said Ruby, plopping down onto a seat as Olivia finalized the drink.

"It's Doctor!"

=O=

"And that's how we got out Ruby! Weiss had an extra lightning dust container and Nora completely destroyed them." said Yang with a grin, patting Nora on the back… only to get shocked by a little residue electricity.

"Yeah, thanks Weissy! I got to break _so_ manylegs! It. Was. Amazing! I wanna go break some more, and I think I have just the person in mind..." said Nora in a malicious tone. Somewhere, Cardin felt the unusual need to stay inside his dorm room for a few days.

"I don't remember packing it, but it came thankfully saved us. We would've been there for so much longer if it wasn't for it." said Weiss. Pyrrha couldn't help but agree as she remembered the situation. If Yang and Nora weren't there, they might not have been able to get out of there at all.

"Anyways, how's Joan?" questioned Yang. Pyrrha could help but notice that Ruby seemed off as she answered.

"I think you should see for yourself…" said Ruby. The group made their way towards the infirmary. However, as they got closer and closer, Pyrrha felt a strange feeling. It wasn't a bad feeling, but it was strange none the less. She felt her previous wounds from the battle disappear and her aura refill, and it seemed that she wasn't the only one being healed.

"How…" Pyrrha started to question it but Ruby quieted her. As they neared the infirmary, the feeling only grew. Pyrrha saw people rushing in and out of the infirmary in droves. All with happy looks on their faces.

As they entered the wing, they found themselves crowded as it seemed that dozens upon dozens of students were in the infirmary. It was like a bee's nest in there. They barely squeezed by the mob as they tried to make their way towards Joan's room.

As they made their way through the halls, Pyrrha heard someone talking next to her. She turned and saw a female student talking to a male in a wheelchair.

"Are you sure? I can go get the doctor!" said the female student with a worried tone.

"It's fine. You heard what the nurse said, about that 'healing aura'." said the student, brushing off his teammate.

"You remember what the doctor said, don't you? If you stand on that leg, you could risk permanently injuring it… You know what, I'll go get the doctor." said the student. She started to move, only for the other student to get out of their wheelchair and stop them.

"It's fine. See?" the male student, moving the leg back and forth in demonstration.

"Alright… But go easy on it. We don't want you to injure it again, the doctors already have enough to worry about without you adding onto it… Let's go get something to eat." said the female as the two walked away.

"Is that… aura?" questioned Weiss as they neared the room, reminding Pyrrha of why they were here. She could _feel_ aura coming off of something, or someone, but it shouldn't be possible for one person to have that much… It was ungodly. They could easily add all of their auras at full together and they wouldn't even be close to a _half_ of the power, let alone all of it. She had only felt that much aura once before…

"Yep. Do you wanna guess who's aura it is?" questioned Ruby with her peppy voice.

"Joan…" said Pyrrha in disbelief as they opened the door to Joan's room. As soon as they opened the door, they got hit be a wave of aura. It was awe inspiring.

They rushed in and took a look at the fallen huntress. She had gained a healthy glow, and almost all the traces of the disease had disappeared. She looked like the picture of health, and even her hair seemed to shine. It almost looked like she was taking a nap.

Almost. Her hair still had traces of gray in it. She seemed uneasy as she rested, constantly rolling over. It was like she was in a bad dream. But in the end, she seemed worlds better compared to what she had been only this morning. And in the end, that's all they could ask for.

"Oh hey Ruby…*sip*… I see you brought your teammates… I hope we didn't put you through too much trouble…*sip*…" said Olivia, drinking a cup of coffee as she greeted the teams.

"It was nothing, but if I may ask, is that Joan's aura that we're feeling?" questioned Weiss,

"Yep, the flower did the trick." said Olivia.

"But how? We can't normally feel the aura of other people. But we felt 'Joan's' aura from outside the infirmary. Far outside the infirmary." said Yang.

"Well, I think we need a metaphor!" said Olivia happily.

"We don't need a metaphor." said Blake.

"Of course we do. Aura is … hmm… *sip* … Oh, Aura is like a glass of water." said Olivia.

"That's a simile." said Blake flatly.

"You're no fun…" said Olivia with a frown. After a few moments, Nora spoke up.

"Ooh, is it because water is nice and refreshing after a work out, like how aura makes you feel better after one?" questioned Nora happily.

"Not quite. Think of the body as the glass, and the water as aura. Now what happens when you try to pour more water than the glass can hold?" said Olivia.

"It overflows…" said Pyrrha as she thought about her partner. Even when she was unconscious, she was helping people.

"Yep, and the same goes with aura. The Joan's body can't hold all of it's newfound aura, so it releases the excess, letting it flow out freely. Fortunately, there was a side effect with the release. Since Joan's aura has an unusual healing factor, it's been healing anyone that it can reach, namely everyone in the infirmary. I'd wager that Joan's saved quite a few lives from simply being here." said Olivia.

"So the flower made Joan's aura this… godlike?" questioned Yang.

"Yep. When I said that her aura would multiply tenfold, I wasn't lying. Well, scientifically speaking it's actually 9.75…" said Olivia.

"Wait, that's not right. Joan's aura is way too high then. Her aura was only a little higher than ours after all." said Yang.

"Well, we Arcs *sip* always had rather large aura compared to everyone else. If I'd had to guess, Joan's never been at full. With that gem that she's been using draining her aura, as well as the virus sapping away at it, I'm simply surprised that she's been able to use her aura at all. And I took a look earlier, it seems that whoever unlocked her aura didn't complete the job *sip*. It seems that the flower forcefully unlocked the rest of it. Better now then never, I suppose." noted Olivia while Pyrrha remembered the fateful initiation.

"Anyways, I'd say just give her a good nights, or days, sleep and she should be fine by tomorrow. If the flower *sip* works that is." said Olivia, ending her statement with an annoyed tone.

"What do you mean 'if'?" questioned Yang.

"Well, that's how it always seems to work *sip*. Whenever you're not looking, something changes. Just like those Beowolves I was studying…*sip* I left for one minute and the town was on fire. Or that time I took a nap after I captured some Nevermore. I still don't know where it ended up. Anyways, I'm not going to jinx it so I'm going to wait right here until Joan wakes up." said Olivia.

"Alright, so now what?" questioned Ruby. Her stomach growled in response, embarrassing her.

The others laughed at her, only for their stomachs to growl. Except Weiss's. She's a lady after all.

"To the cafeteria!" said Ruby happily, only to be interrupted by the green haired scientist.

"Wait! If you're heading down to the cafeteria, can one of you get me another cup of coffee? I'm running low here…" said Olivia.

"I would be delighted to Olivia." said Pyrrha with a smile.

=O=

"Thanks, you're a life saver… I owe you one…" said Olivia as she took a sip at her new cup of coffee.

"Don't worry about it. It's the least I can do after what you've done for Joan." said Pyrrha with her world famous smile. Somehow, she had gotten the coffee even though they were out of it in the cafeteria. She had run into Oobleck on the way back and explained her situation, and he somehow produced a cup from who knows where.

For the next few minutes, the duo remained silent as Olivia worked on her scroll, occasionally taking a sip from her cup of coffee. Soon, the silence became unbearable and Pyrrha spoke.

"So, do you like coffee?" questioned Pyrrha in an attempt to make small talk.

"Hate the stuff. Tastes like dirt. I'll take tea over it any day of the week." said Olivia without missing a beat.

"Then why do you drink it?" questioned Pyrrha.

"Well, I haven't slept in the past… 5? No, 6 days. I just need to stay awake for a little longer." said Olivia, taking a sip at the end of the sentence.

"Why haven't you slept in the past 6 days?" questioned Pyrrha.

"I've been traveling between the kingdoms all week. That's what happens when you're a Grimm Specialist. There's been incidents everywhere. One councilman's daughter was sick with some sort of Grimm disease, another kingdom catches a rare Grimm and wanted me to examine it and a huntsman academy wants me to do a presentation… That was just on the first two days, you know. I was planning to sleep the day away yesterday, but that didn't work out." said Olivia.

"You have my condolences." said Pyrrha sympathetically. When she had been sponsored by Pumpkin Pete's, she had been all over Mistral. She could count all the free time in minutes that she had per week on one hand. Well, it wasn't that bad but it was still very tiring. It was a nice change of pace in Beacon, with all the free time she had been given.

"Anyways, I think that everything's gonna be… Oh Oum damn it!" cursed Olivia as she took a look at Joan.

"What?!" asked Pyrrha in a panic.

"Well, it seems the flower didn't work. Joan's aura is in a free fall. I knew something like this would happen…" said Olivia with a sigh.

"Well, what do we need to do?!" questioned Pyrrha.

"Right now, we have approximately two minutes to decide our next course of action before Joan bites the bullet. Luckily for us, Oobleck had an Ace in the hole for us this whole time." said Olivia as she pulled out a syringe.

"What's that?" questioned Pyrrha.

"This vial, my dear champion, is our way out of this situation. It should theoretically eliminate the virus." said Olivia as she held the syringe filled with black liquid.

"How?" questioned Pyrrha.

"Well, this syringe will eliminate all the aura in a person-" said Olivia before she was interrupted.

"Isn't that the thing that we're trying to stop?!" said Pyrrha with shock in her voice as she looked at the syringe.

"It is, to a degree. If Joan runs out of aura when the virus is still in her, then it'll be able to get to her soul and destroy it. If we use this vial, it drops Joan's aura instantly, theoretically killing the virus with her aura. Then we begin step two…" said Olivia.

"What's step two?" questioned Pyrrha.

"Oobleck only provided me with the vial, but I fear that it won't be enough. I'm afraid that once her aura starts to regenerate, the virus will just reinfect her. If that happens, then no matter what we do, Joan will eventually die to it…" said Olivia flatly. She got up and stood next to Joan.

"There's…*sigh* There's only one way to make sure Joan won't die to this virus." said Olivia.

"What are you going to do?" questioned Pyrrha. She didn't like the look of this.

"I'm going to do the only thing I can do. I'm going to _destroy Joan's aura._ " said Olivia with an unreadable expression.

"WHAT?! That's insane! There has to be another way!" shouted Pyrrha as she listened to the green haired scientist.

"I'm afraid it's all too sane… It's the _only_ way to save Joan's life. I've spent the past few hours considering any alternatives, and I mean _any_ _alternatives._ And all of the ones I have found have a chance for something to go wrong. Some way for Joan to die. Something that can easily go wrong. There is no 'happy ending' with those. The only way I can make sure Joan won't die to the virus is to destroy her aura. She will _never_ be able to use it again, nor will she be able to unlock her semblance. But if it works, the virus won't be able to kill Joan!" said Olivia with a laugh.

"And this is the best alternative?!" questioned Pyrrha.

"It's the only alternative that I'm going through with. The virus can only do real damage in the virus while it's in the aura. In the body, it just lays dormant until it can get in. There may be a smarter way, a way that can end in Joan waking up and being healthy, but I can't risk it." said Olivia.

"Why?!" asked Pyrrha.

"I've lost two sibling already. I don't want to lose a third." said Olivia quietly. Pyrrha was silenced by the comment. After a moment, Olivia injected Joan with the syringe. Pyrrha saw the aura on the monitor instantly drain to zero. After a moments hesitation, Olivia began the ritual.

" _In all beings of light, we share the gift of the soul. Through this, we fight the darkness to protect the light-"_ said Olivia as she began the ritual. As she spoke, Pyrrha saw Olivia start to glow, with a white outline forming around her. All the while, Pyrrha had one thought.

 _This is bad_. All her instincts were screaming at her to do something, anything! Time seemed to slow as Pyrrha looked around the room. She noticed a closet in the corner that was slightly open.

" _With the power of light at my side, I de-_ Huh?!" Pyrrha interrupted Olivia by quickly grabbing her, stopping the ritual before it could be finished. Before Olivia could do anything, Pyrrha kicked the closet door open before throwing Olivia inside and quickly closed the door. Pyrrha finished the motion by using her semblance to mangle the metal in the closet door, so it would be sealed closed.

"Let me out!" shouted Olivia as she banged on the door. As she did, Pyrrha took a look at Joan. Regret began to fill her as she realized that Olivia was likely the only person who could've saved Joan's life. Pyrrha might have an A in Professor Port's class, but that didn't make her anywhere near Olivia's level of skill. She had to let Olivia out if she wanted Joan to live…

*BEEP BEEP*

"Hmm?" Pyrrha noticed her scroll buzzing and opened it. A quick look told her that she had just been messaged by an anonymous number.

 **[IF YOU WANT JOAN TO LIVE, REPEAT THE FOLLOWING PHASES. IT WILL SAVE HER LIFE AND SHE WILL KEEP HER AURA.]** After that, the message contained a few lines of what looked like an ancient Vytallian poem. Normally, Pyrrha would question how this person would know about Joan and the current situation, but time was dire. If she didn't do anything right now, Joan would likely perish.

"Sorry Olivia… _For it is within our connection to one another that allows us to combat the darkness, through this we strengthen our light. Eternal in compassion and unknown from fear, I connect our souls, and by my heart, open my soul to thee."_ As Pyrrha spoke, she felt her aura start to drain as a shroud formed around the two. As the ritual ended, she noticed the aura shroud getting brighter and brighter… only for it to disappear as the ritual ended.

"… Did it work?" questioned Pyrrha as she took a look at Joan. She didn't look that much better, did the ritual even do anything. Suddenly, she felt her legs give out as she felt her aura being drained. She barely had the time to recognize what was taking her strength before the world turned black.

" _Joan…_ "

=O=

Hey guys, **RWBYBlackFlames** here and so unbelievably happy to show you the end of Chapter 11. This has been a journey. This chapter has been revised and changed so many times that I've lost count. I've been working on this during Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas. But every time I think I gained progress, something would change. Maybe I would have a better idea, maybe my laptop would shut off. But after so much delay, I've finally gotten the result I've wanted. Even with the cliché cliffhanger ending. Anyways, I'll work on the Arc Angel next and I promise you it won't take as long. I know exactly what I want.

Anyways, sorry for taking so long. I'll leave you with one question. What's your opinion on omakes and would you be opposed to having them? Black Flames out!


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